This is VNCE.
VNCE, tell us more about how you got started in music?
Music has always just been with me, I guess. I had older siblings and 4-year-old me wanted to spend time with them, so we would listen to the radio and watch MTV together.
So, I grew up listening to music that was probably way too mature for my age from which I got exposed to all the greats.
At the age of six, I would trade in my toys for tapes and on Christmas eve, I purchased my first two albums, Madonna, “Bedtime Stories,” and Ace of Base "The Sign.” I was never the same again after that.
From such a young age, I knew I wanted to be a singer. I would put on performances in the living room and force my family to watch.
I would make fake album covers with song titles, and write lyrics. In my mind, I was already famous. :)
In high school, I was active in both the theatre and choral departments. I played lead roles, in West Side Story, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Little Shop of Horrors, and many others.
In college, I started writing and recording my own demos during my free time.
I also auditioned for shows like American Idol, X-Factor, and The Voice and released my first official track in 2011; I have been making pop music for over 9 years now.
What is the most difficult aspect about starting a career in music?
The most difficult thing about pursuing a career in music is getting exposure and getting noticed.
There are so many talented and aspiring artists out there that are trying to do the same exact thing as you.
It takes a lot of time, energy, and money to execute your vision and art with no real guarantee that it will reach anyone with any real power or position in the industry. You lead with blind faith in your dreams.
Sometimes, it's truly exhausting and you just want to throw in the towel and quit, but the passion and love I
have for music outweighs those doubts every time.
What would you say separates your sound from everyone else?
I'm not your cookie cutter pop star. I'm very explicit and candid in my songs.
Everything is autobiographical.
You can tell exactly how I'm feeling in the moment that I was writing a particular song. My inner cancer, LOL!
In terms of my sound, I've been told that I have a signature playful and seductive tone to my voice that is unlike the pop greats of today.
What can you tell us about your album coming out on May 8th, 2020?
My album "Queer," is a concept record and is also me being super transparent about my sexuality for the first time, period.
I moved from the east coast to Los Angeles in 2017, in search of not only a career in music but also a place that I can live in authentically.
I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is a very conservative and culture-less city.
I’ve always felt that I was never accepted there and couldn't live the life I had dreamt of for myself.
So, I moved from Charlotte, NC to West Hollywood, CA, — the gay Mecca.
I had this false hope that I'd move to “WeHo” and meet the man of my dreams.
Stupid right? Little did I know that finding love in WeHo is probably just as hard as pursuing a career in music, maybe harder, LOL.
Anyway, I met my best friend, fell in love with him, those feelings were not reciprocated and that's essentially the story behind ‘Queer’; the story of a man who is searching for love, but gets submerged into a culture of sex & drugs. A WeHo tale as old as time.
Follow VNCE:
Instagram:@its_vnce
Spotify: li.sten.to/lauNnjz
Email: vncesounds@gmail.com