originally published: 02/01/2022
VAYA sees themselves as more of a spirit - a way to express yourself through music, colors, and performance - than a traditional band. Based in Toronto, their first concert was in the summer of 2017. Their name is strongly connected to the white wolf spirit. The Penguin Rocks presents this interview with VAYA.
Who are the members of the band and what instrument do they each play? VAYA welcomed different musicians on the road I was really happy to share with to empower the all power of it and make it more unique as it started. VAYA is full of soul prints, of human stories, of friend and family ship, of spirituality, of sharing ideas of co creation. And it will continue like that as long as possible. I am really happy to be a part and a witness of it.
Tell me about your latest record. What songs are you most proud of on the record? I love all of them because all together they do the full spine of a strong human story:) so each one has its one importance.
How many records, eps, or singles has the band put out in total? How has the band changed over time? We are only on the second opus. We started with a double album. I think we are more confident to experiment ourself on new things.
What was one of your favorite gigs? I liked the one we said goodbye to Switzerland, it was warm and sincere.
Where does the band regularly play shows? Well today it is hard to say :) But we are working on flying to Japan and then if Universe allows it, doing a little step back to Europe with the first album.
Where would you like to play if you could? Where? JAPAN! And ALL OVER THE WORLD!
What would be the “next step” that you’d like to see the band take? Being renown so we can be able to meet more interesting people and move.
For more on VAYA visit their official website and follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
The Artist Spotlight series features interviews with artists and bands from around the world. If you would like to be considered for an interview, email info@thepenguinrocks.com and provide a link to your website or socials for us to check out. There is no cost to being part of the series. Interviews run at The Penguin Rocks and NewJerseyStage.com
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"Well, I certainly hope so, it seems like it is," laughed Blues Traveler bassist Ben Wilson as he discussed what the band has been up to and their preparations before they hit the road once again for a Summer tour. "The band has been quite active over the years through touring and we managed to continue to record some records. We've done two kinds of covers records, the first one was a blues record which actually got nominated for a Grammy which was pretty cool and the next one, we did some soul covers. That one wasn't quite as well received but it was sure fun to make. So, it's been really cool; you have this massive success for a decade or so and then you kind of dip below that cultural Gestalt line where you're just kind of bubbling below the surface and you can do just fine there even though you're not on the cover of "The Rolling Stone" and that's kind of what we've been doing. We've had a good run, it has been fantastic and these summer tours where we get together with these other kind of bands of similar eras with similar kinds of hits; we're very fortunate as kind of a neo-hippie jam band from that era that kind of bucked some of the trends that were going on at the time but we were lucky enough to have a couple of hits and that has allowed us to have kind of a different career than just the straight jam bands do; not that that wouldn't be awesome as well because obviously many of them are doing just fine but it's just a slightly different road but it has been wonderful. We didn't rehearse a whole lot because we've been playing together for 38 years but things are good and we're stoked for this upcoming tour."
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