An Interview With The Irish Band, VINCI!

 As a completely independent band, Vinci has sold-out shows in Dublin, been invited to perform for the President of Ireland, Micheal D. Higgins, filmed the first ever music video at Dublin City Hall and earned national airplay support on RTE2FM.

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Thanks for your time today! Where does this interview find you?

We’re in (surprisingly) sunny Dublin, Ireland, writing new songs.

Now that we are more than half-way through the year, how has 2019 been treating you? What are some goals that you have for yourself this year? How close are you to reaching them?

It’s been FAST! Feels like we just got back from LA and the Oscar Wilde Awards, rubbing shoulders with celebs
and singing rebel songs with Chris O’Dowd, but now we’re back to reality, rubbing shoulders with each other and
singing rebel songs in the shower.. haha! In terms of goals, we wanted to shoot an important music video about
the housing crisis in Ireland at the moment. We managed to convince one of our favourite Irish actors, Aidan Gillen
(Littlefinger – Game Of Thrones), to play the lead role in the video with a young actress, Roisin Dunne, who was
phenomenal, and we’re super proud of the result. It’s on our YouTube channel right now.

Growing up, how important was music in your life? Can you recall the moment when you decided that you wanted
to be a musician? Was it an easy or difficult choice to make?

Everything. Speaking for myself, the earliest memories I have are related to music. I can remember the song my
Mam and Dad used to sing me to sleep with, ‘More Than Words’ by Extreme. I spent my whole life humming tunes
in my head. I played football (soccer) at a high level and wanted to turn pro, but even then I was humming all
throughout the games. I don’t think it was really a decision for any of us, it’s just something we felt compelled to do. I always liken it to when a religious figure or teacher says they had a ‘calling’. As cheesy as that can come across,
it’s really what it feels like. Maybe a hard choice to explain to our parents, haha, but they’ve been incredibly
supportive, always.

Was there ever a time when you thought about doing something else? If you weren’t a musician today, what
else could you see yourself doing? Would you be as fulfilled in life?

Absolutely. There was a period before we started the band where we all went through a pretty rough patch. This
industry can be very emotionally and mentally draining. I think it either breaks you or makes you, and I think coming together made us. Now we feel un-breakable.

Untouchable. We’ve come through so much together, and we always push through and make something negative
into something positive. Personally, if I hadn’t found music, I would have moved to the UK to play football
professionally at whatever level I could. If I had to follow in family footsteps and do engineering, I think I would have made the most of it, but I’m too creatively-minded to really settle at a desk. I’d probably lose my mind. To be honest, that’s all hypothetical really because there is nothing we can imagine doing other than music.

What has been the biggest surprise so far about making music your career? What has been an unexpected or
welcome challenge to it all?

I think the biggest surprise has been how quickly people started coming to shows and supporting us. We sold out
our very first show, one week after releasing our first ever single. An unexpected challenge would be how much the
industry has changed in the past few years, how quick the shift from traditional mediums to streaming has happened and trying to keep up with what labels/publishers are looking for when evaluating artist potential. A welcome challenge would be, because it’s harder to put a team around you these days, you have to learn about a lot of different aspects of the industry from booking to promotion to marketing to producing to management to music videos. I’ve really enjoyed trying to make interesting and poignant music videos with limited budgets and timing. We learn so much so quickly, purely because we have to.

Where did you come with your artist name? Why did you decide to by something other then your own name?

We went into the studio as mates to record a solo EP. When we heard what was coming back out of the
speakers, it just sounded so much like a band; Like a band we would listen to. It made sense because we were
already so close, there wasn’t a lot of issues you hear about in most bands. VINCI means to defeat, to beat, to
overcome, to conquer, in Latin. I love the Italian renaissance as a period of history and the emphasis
people placed on art and how much it impacted culture, even more than politics, and would love to see that
happen again. We’ve all had to overcome a lot and we have that mentality that we can conquer everything that’s
put in front of us, so it’s been a very fitting name for us.

What was the inspiration for your newest track, “Lions”? How would you say that it compares to your previous
songs?

People don’t ask about the inspiration for songs much, so I don’t talk about it. Like a lot of our songs, there is a
layered meaning behind them and multiple inspirations that I try to weave into a single narrative. For Lions, I was
thinking about how many times I had heard that cliche in a relationship that ‘it’s not the right time’, or ‘the timing’s just not right’. I thought about a couple, meeting at different times in history, and that really none of those times would have been right, so why use that as an excuse. The timing wasn’t wrong, we just weren’t right for each other.
Underneath that, it’s a story about someone struggling with mental health and trying to understand themselves
within the conversations they have with their own mind.

The ‘lions’ are a metaphor for the demons, the insecurities, the things we are afraid to confront, but that
can destroy us if we don’t.

When do you plan on releasing more new music and a full collection of new songs?

As. Soon. As. Possible. One of the most frustrating things we’ve had recently is just the sheer amount of songs that are written and ready to record, and we can’t get into the studio and release them quick enough. I think being a fully independent band, unsigned, self-managed, self-funded, the one major downside, is time. It takes so much more time to do things the way they need to be done to compete on the highest level. If we had the opportunity, we’d have three albums recorded next week.

Where can people see you perform next? Do you plan to tour at all this summer or later in the year? What has been
a favorite performance of yours so far?

We play the Grand Social in Dublin, October 18th. It’s our first show ever having a promoter, and we’re happy to be working with MCD on it. It’s going to sell out soon and we can announce more plans with MCD going forward.
Favourite performance has probably been Iveagh Gardens to 5000 people, opening for childhood heroes,
Aslan. Next to that, I think an audition we did in LA for the Oscar Wilde Awards two weeks later. Between those two shows, I lost my Dad very suddenly, a few days later had the funeral, then flew to LA because it’s what my Dad
would have wanted. He, and my Mam have always been my biggest supporters. I think because of the stress, I lost
my voice on the day of the showcase. Miraculously, it came back enough to get through the set, and we booked
the Oscar Wilde Awards that night. I think because of all of the emotions involved, all of the things we had to
overcome, to still be able to step onstage and blow the roof off The Mint, that gave us massive confidence in what
we are capable of.

How do you think you have grown as a musician since you first started making music?

Massively. In every way a person can change. As much as changing as a musician, I think it’s changed me even
more as a person. It gave me confidence, therapy, friends, self-assuredness and some unbelievable experiences. As
a musician, I always struggled to call myself that, always doubted the kind of art I made because I didn’t feel
qualified. Now, 10,000+ hours later, I feel confident in every aspect of being a musician. Whether walking into a
room with top producers and writing a great song, or walking on stage to open for a legendary band, or
following an amazing act, we all feel like we can perform on any stage in the world and hold our own.

What has it been like keeping up with your social media accounts and all of the different platforms? Is it hard to
stay up to date on it all? What would you say is your favorite way to connect with your fans now? What has social media done for your career so far?

I think it’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s amazing to get feedback, share news instantly, share
music with people all around the world at once. And on the other hand, it’s a massively time consuming aspect of
things that massive importance has been placed on, when sometimes we’d rather be in the studio recording songs
and just releasing them as a surprise to everyone. Unfortunately, we’re not Beyonce, so we can’t do that.
Just like we don’t dance, sing or look like her, either.

Favourite way to connect with our fans will always be at shows, where we can physically see them and interact,
but next to that I think Instagram and Facebook are great for being able to interact directly, daily, and have
conversations with people.

Who are some of your favorite artists or rather, what musicians have continued to inspire you and your music?

We could write an essay on this, there are that many. We think we have a unique sound as a band, that’s distinctly
VINCI, but that comes from the variety of influences. Some songs are folk-rock, some pop, some pop-rock,
some R&B, some hip-hop influenced. Even in ‘Lions’ you can hear the hip-hop influence in the second verse. All of
our songs sound different to each other stylistically and yet similar, sonically. Quick list: Springsteen, U2, Coldplay,
Eminem, The Frames, Mumford & Sons, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Kings Of Leon, Jay-Z, Imagine Dragons, Hozier,
Marvin Gaye, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey, The Weeknd, John Mayer and loads, loads more.

Who would you absolutely love to work with in the future?

That list is far too long, too. Producers/Writers: Alex Da Kid, Noel Zancanella, Ryan Tedder, Jimmy Iovine,
Timbaland, Dre, Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, Trent Reznor, Benny Blanco, Finneas, Sia, Chris Martin, Marcus
Mumford, Zedd, Bruno Mars.

If you had an unlimited budget and your schedule was free, what would your dream music video look like?

What a great question. Something that shows off where we grew up and how far we’ve come (assuming this
unlimited budget has been sanctioned based on ridiculous success.. haha). So opening on a shot of our hometown,
cut to all the cities where we’ve sold out arenas, people crying singing our songs back to us “Fix-You” style, and
finishing on the cathedral we’ve just built to for the sole purpose of recording our albums.

Or we could just pay Beyonce to lip-sync our song. No amount of money can make us look more talented that
that..

What has been the coolest place/TV show/commercial that you have heard a song of yours? Where would you
still love to hear a future song of yours played?

Hearing it being played in Bad Robot Studios, where they made some of my favourite films, was fairly mental. I think hearing it in one of our favourite tv shows would be crazy.
Or in a FIFA soundtrack. That’s like the holy grail!

At the end of the day, what do you hope people take away from your music?

My favourite bands made me feel like I wasn’t alone. That other people had gone through what I was going through.
If our songs can make anyone feel that way, we’ve done something great. We just want people to relate, in any
way that they can, and give people some power, even if it’s just for those 3 minutes of the day. It’s so easy these
days to feel powerless, but we’re all powerful and capable of incredible things. Music brings that out in us.

Would you like to share anything else with our readers about your music?

Just go and listen to some of the songs. That’s the only thing we can ever ask. If you don’t feel anything, thank
you for listening anyway, and if you do feel something, the lyrics, the melodies, the harmonies, a feeling, a reaction,
come follow us on this journey because you are the most important aspect of everything we do and everything we
will do. Without fans, we’re shouting into the abyss. You give us the ability to write, create, connect and pursue a
dream many have advised against, few achieve and we have every intention of fulfilling.

Thanks for reading!