We first found out about Tommy Miller when we accidentally came across one of his videos on YouTube. It was the cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love”. Although we knew the song before from both Bon Iver and the sensational Birdy, it was Tommy Miller who made us love it. His acoustic approach, with just a guitar and his truly amazing voice was all this masterpiece of country music needed to be complete.
His rough appearance with the beard, the handlebar mustache, the black scarf and the tattoos on both forearms, served well, looking like something of the ultimate hipster symbol. When we began researching him on Google and YouTube, we saw that’s not his style. In fact, he is exactly the opposite. Clean cut, with short hair and usually dressed casual, just a T-shirt and jeans. Today, 2 years after that video was uploaded on YouTube, Tommy Miller has done a few more pretty cool covers and along with Aaron, Allen, Daniel and Justin they are… VIS.
Introduce VIS to the world… Who are you and what do you do?
VIS is a progressive punk band that formed about a year ago. They were looking for a singer so I joined about 8 months ago. We do complex and aggressive music and have a lot of fun at shows and we like to eat pizza and burritos.
What are your musical influences?
VIS is very much influenced by Rx Bandits, At The Drive In, Facing New York, Mars Volta, and Minus The Bear. I have a wide range of influences. Each project I do requires me to pull from different areas of music. For this band I pull from Glassjaw, Further Seems Forever, and Sunny Day Real Estate.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvQa9eWbCHY]
You have just released your first EP with five songs, entitled No Waves. Tell us a few things about it.
No Waves was musically written before I joined the band, primarily by the guitarist Aaron Delgado. Allen Casillas, our drummer, started recording the music right when I joined the band, so I wrote lyrics and melodies very quickly. Thematically, I took cues from them as to what they think the music represents. Each song takes on some fairly large existential concepts. A lot of musings about death and how it relates to life. The name comes from the ambient section in the last song “Runners”. Aaron wanted all of us to write down whatever we wanted about death and we recorded us saying it in spoken word. Danny Escobar, our keyboardist, wrote a poem where he describes being on a black sea with no currents and no waves. We decided that was a good title that captured the collection of songs.
Why did you choose “death” as the main subject of your first EP?
Death is something I started thinking and writing about a lot recently. It is something that is relevant to all of us. Aaron asked me to write “Runners” specifically about death. I think that was one of the things that guided the rest of the songs on No waves. Writing about death forces me to examine my place in the universe more seriously.
What should we expect from VIS in the future?
VIS will definitely be writing and recording new music soon. We aren’t sure what we want to write yet so I am excited to see what kind of songs we write!
Any tour plans?
We actually just got back from tour! Currently we are going to be doing a lot of regional work in the Western U.S. but we hope to tour nationally and internationally to Europe very soon.
How did you come up with the name of the band? VIS in Latin means power…
Yes, we wanted to describe our bands sound as simply as possible. We think there is a lot of power in the music we create so a word that simply means that describes us very well.
How did you meet the other members of the band?
We have a mutual friend named Chris Pennington that sings in a local band called Back Pocket Memory. Both me and the rest of the guys previous bands played numerous shows with them and became good friends with that band. When Chris heard that these guys were looking for a singer he called me that day and put me in contact with them.
Is it difficult for a brand new band to start a career in the hard scene of the music industry?
Yeah, it’s difficult but it is also much easier to do things on your own and be proud of what you create. I try to maintain that kind of mindset than be concerned with making it. It is very frustrating for people who want to make it because the road is so crowded. I think that is more reason to get off that road and explore my own potential.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE_3vmUda7s]
I first found out about you from some videos on YouTube with covers of popular songs. How did you start doing those videos?
I started doing those videos with very close friends of mine: Scott and Kristina Tolleson. They are a couple that does photography and videography in Southern California and have a passion for working with musical artists to make music videos. I was lucky enough to be one of the artists they chose to work with when they launched their YouTube channel.
We’ve heard you singing from Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love” to “Umbrella” by Rihanna. How do you choose the songs you want to cover?
Scott and I settled on “Skinny Love” as my first cover because we both really enjoy that song. Neither of us thought that it would go as big as it did because that song was already pretty heavily covered by a lot of talented artists on YouTube. We chose to do “Umbrella” because there was this artist video of the week competition running on YouTube that we submitted it to and it won! We had a lot of support from friends, family, and fans that voted for the song. I like that song because it is about friendship and devotion. The song is very positive.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY2iH18Ig5s]
What are your next moves? Which other songs would you like to cover?
I am excited to get back to doing more videos and covers! I like doing classic songs as well as popular songs and “indie” songs. I would really like to do “The Weight” by The Band and a legit version of “Dear Prudence” by The Beatles. Popular songs that I like right now are “Coming Of Age” by Foster The People, “Nonbelievers” by Vampire Weekend and “Bad Blood” by Bastille.
Was music always your passion growing up?
Yes. Since I was seven I have been very passionate about music.
You have tattoos on both forearms. What do they say and what each of them symbolizes for you?
Well, my first tattoo was on my left forearm. That is the “Join Or Die” image that goes back to Ben Franklin. I had the image adapted by my artist to make the snake look like it was pieces of stone dropped on the ground. It is symbolic of my need to keep my shit together as well as be flexible so that I do not break under stress, pressure, or recklessness. On my right forearm is a tattoo that I call “Music Junkie” and it was done by the same artist as my left are Mike Jack. That one is a syringe with piano keys on it. Inside the syringe is a liquid filled with music notes that is being injected into my veins. It is symbolic of my constant need to fill my life with music.
Connect With VIS:
FACEBOOK | TUMBLR | TWITTER |YOUTUBE
By: Demetrios Ioannou, RockRevolt Magazine Contributor
RockRevolt™Magazine has proudly saved over 11,000 trees to date by publishing in digital format-SAVE THE PLANET-ROCK THE WORLD!
