Vernon Neilly Interview – Fusion, Rock, Funk, R&B, Smooth Jazz, Pop, Blues guitarist from Nassau, Bahamas.
Vernon Neilly Interview
How is the life of Vernon Neilly going?
The life of Vernon Neilly is always busy because in addition to being an international recording and performing artist, I am also the head of my label which currently has 15 other artists on the label. In addition to this I have another business that distributes high quality musical products called Guitar Global, so these things keep me quite busy always.
How was it recording your latest cd Outta Time?
It was a process that took a little time because of the many talented guests on the project, so timing was the issue because all of these people have very busy schedules as well. Once the guests where able to record their parts the process was easier because I have my own studio and I can work when I want to and get things done. So most of the tracks where done in my studio, then I emailed the files to the various guests, they recorded their parts and sent them back, this was the most expedient way because everyone other than Bill Hudson and now Kiko Loureiro live in other parts of the USA or world. Kiko was the only one who recorded his parts in my studio.
Must have been great working with Megadeth’s new guitarist Kiko Loureiro. How was the experience?
Kiko and I have a long history 12 years of working together before the Megadeth opportunity came up for him. My record label Boosweet Records was the first label to handle his solo CD’s here in the USA, and just about all other territories around the world, with the exception of Brazil where he is from. Kiko and I have performed together at Expo Music in Sao Paulo Brazil as we used to endorse the same guitar company, before he moved on to Ibanez, and I moved on to Parker. Kiko also recorded on my last CD release “A Tribute To Stevie Wonder” which was a great success, so this project was not the first that I have worked with Kiko. Kiko is a great guy if you know him personally, he is very serious about his career, and has worked very hard to reach the position where he is at, so it is always very rewarding to work with individuals like Kiko. He is very diverse in his musical vocabulary although his main successes come from playing with his Brazilian band Angra which is a progressive rock band, and now Megadeth a metal band. When Kiko recorded the solo to Meta Funk Trip, the session was not planned, he has actually come over to have lunch and hangout, so since he was there I asked him to record the solo, and because he his my friend he did it. Kiko is filled with musical ideas so once he heard the track did a couple of takes just to feel the track, he did the final take, which is one of the best solos on the CD. After that we ate, and then we had a little jam together, Kiko played piano and I played guitar. We played some Brazilian Bossa, Tom Jobim stuff, was great.
– When writing a song, is there such a thing as investing too much time? What’s the shortest time you ever took to write one? What was your strangest inspiration?
It would depend on what you think of the song as you are creating it, does it have potential to be a good song or not. If you feel that it does then you don’t give up on it. If you get stuck in the process of writing sometimes walking away and coming back to it with a different perspective can be what was needed. Sometimes it has taken months for me to complete a song, but others a matter of minutes. I think the shortest time for me to write a song has been 5 minutes, this is when everything is just flowing out of you creatively, it’s hard to explain in words, but it’s like you have tapped into another creative source higher than you, so everything just happens very naturally. It’s amazing when this happens because you are hearing the whole song in your head all at the same time, words, music, arrangement, it’s an incredible thing to experience. I have written a lot of songs so it’s hard to think of one particular moment of strange inspiration, I am sure there are many but I just don’t remember, but on the current CD when I was writing “They Dont Care” the first single it was kind of one of those moments. I had only a drum track and as I was listening I just started playing this riff which seemed to fit, then I started singing a melody in my head which eventually came to be the chorus of the song, and from there the ideas for the rest of the music started to flow. I got in touch with my friend Doug Wimbish of the band Living Colour and asked him if he could record the bass track. I had no idea what he would record but the guitar riff that I laid down was strong. Doug followed that riff and created around it which was awesome, so it was a track that at the beginning I did not know where it was definitively going, but turned out great! The video for this song is already going viral with more than 275k views in a couple of weeks, and it because of the music that is driving the video.
– Do you have any tours coming up in the near future?
The tours are being planned now, I know I will go back to South America in the fall, Japan, then some scattered dates in the USA, but more is being planned.
– Could you describe some of your earliest influences in life and in music?
My earliest influences in life and music came from inside my family and extended family. My mother is a classically trained pianist and violinist, as well as her sister my Aunt Hilda, who was also a professor of music. My Uncle Denis was a jazz musician who played double bass and sax. And all of her other siblings played musical instruments as well. Classical music was a big part of my earliest musical listening experience because of my mother, aunt, and uncles so I learned about all the great classical composers at a very young age. Being raised in The Bahamas I was also exposed to many various genres of music, Calypso, Socca, Reggae, R&B, Pop, Rock, so I have a very diverse musical background. I remember seeing The Beatles on television at a very young age and how much I loved the look and sound of guitars, so this was the first great influence as far as popular music is concerned on me. At around 14 I was introduced to the music of Jimi Hendrix and to this day he has been the most influential on me as an artist and guitarist. Jimi was probably the first true “Guitar Hero” he came along and completely blew everyone’s minds, not only his playing and creativity sound wise, but his dress, persona, character, he was completely different than anyone at that time period. He made an indelible impression on me.
– How important is it for a musician in this generation to spend time on social media?
Well whether a musician does it himself or has a team that does it for him, it is of the utmost importance to be active on social media. It is a way that let’s the musician/artist connect with all of his followers instantaneously all over the world, it’s an incredible tool. To be able to update your followers worldwide in an instant of time is really important. People are naturally curious about people who they have chosen to like, so social media gives the musician artist a vehicle to reach them, and see how they are going to respond. So it’s supper important for any musician or artist whether they are just getting started or they are industry veterans.
– What would we be surprised to find in your music collection at home?
Wow that’s a good question, I don’t know maybe some old Duke Ellington, or Count Basie, or maybe Frank Sinatra. I love that big band era of music, and the classic musicals that came our of that era, composers like Gershwin.
– How important are music videos in the industry today? How do they compare to videos from 20 years ago?
Music videos today are a must for any serious artist because, not only can a person hear the music but by means of the video get a closer look into the artists creative process of what the song is about. Also visual media is very powerful, it can leave strong impressions on the mind of people, so it is a very important aspect for any serious artist to use in today’s music business. You can take the for example radio and how it was important to reach many households when it started, but when television came along it was an even more powerful media, because people could not not only hear but could see the people performing their favorite songs, so video has performed the same function for artists or musicians in the music industry today. Videos today because of new technology are amazing, so the artists or musician can be way more creative in their videos because of things like blue and green screens that were not that commonly used 20 years ago. 20 years ago probably on artists like Michael Jackson where taking full advantage of the technology that existed for example in his “Remember The Time” video. These types of videos are common now because the technology has become even more accessible. My “They Don’t Care” video is an example of using technology and high quality editing to convey the story of the music.
– Where do you see music in general going in 100 years from now?
This is a very tough question that I think is impossible to answer because music and the music business is ever evolving. I do think though that new technologies in giving artist greater creative tools will be a part of it, but there is also the business side of the music. As much as people would love to think when they turn on their radios or televisions to listen to music or see videos that it is free it is not, so we are seeing a change in the music business at the moment that is challenging even the major labels. This is how to monetize music now and in the future. Many major record stores are closed which was not just a way to discover and hear new music, but it was also a social center where you could meet people. So you have these new platforms of delivery Apple Music, Itunes, Amazon, Spotify etc that people can access from their computers or smart devices that is great for the consumer but not the artists, because of the pay systems currently in place. So we will have to see where this all takes music, the creation and delivery of it, 5 years from now or 100.
Jason thanks for your interest in my new CD “Outta Time” I appreciate the opportunity to speak about it! If you have not already seen the video “They Dont Care” you can view it at YouTube or here on my Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/vernonneillyband
Best Regards
Check out Vernon Neilly online http://www.vernonneilly.com/
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