VV Brown Talks Traveling Like The Light, Vintage Inspiration And Being Real With INYIM

VV Brown Arrives With Fearless Musique, Retro Fire And Realness

By Anthony De La Cruz

Three attributes that make a true performer: a stellar live vocal set, a beauty that transcends physical form and creates its own explosive musical birth, and a true connection from singer to listener. The newest British extraordinaire, VV Brown, is no exception.

Vanessa Brown, otherwise known as VV Brown, was born in Northampton, England, into a family of five brothers and sisters to Jamaican and Puerto Rican parents. She attended Overstone Park School, coincidentally owned and managed by her folks, and spent her weekends mastering the art of classical and jazz piano while developing her vocal skills.

Her influences stretched from Ella Fitzgerald to The B-52’s. Despite earning straight A’s in college, Miss Brown declined offers from multiple prestigious universities and decided to follow her passion in musique.

While owning a guitar that had only one string attached to it, VV began writing and developing melodies that would ultimately manifest into her debut album, Traveling Like the Light.

After visiting the States in early 2009, VV returned to the UK following immense pressure from record executives and labels who wanted to turn her into something she was not. Former rapper and current mogul P. Diddy was among those who attempted to sign her to Bad Boy Records.

Like most stories, the golden ones triumph in the end. VV signed to Universal’s Island Records in the UK, and in July 2009, Traveling Like the Light arrived with inspirations from the 1950s doo-wop era, indie rock-pop-punk perfection, and electronic sounds pulled from video games. She wrote and played instruments on the album as well.

The album, with lyrics drawn from a failed relationship, introduced VV to wider audiences through performances of “Crying Blood” on shows including Later With Jools Holland and The Sunday Night Project. She released Traveling Like the Light here in the U.S. through EMI Capitol Records on April 20, 2010.

ItsNotYouItsMe had the honor and pleasure of sitting down with VV for a one-on-one interview in the offices of EMI Records, NYC. VV was simply immaculate in so many shapes and forms. We had a ton of fun, and what is most important and vital for any artist in the musique industry is that they are real with themselves, their musique, and their fans. VV embodies that to the fullest.

Anthony De La Cruz Interviews VV Brown

AD: I would first like to say my name is Anthony De La Cruz, and I run a website called ItsNotYouItsMe.org, where I basically feature all things beautiful and with truth that don’t need to be labeled. They just are.

VV: Awe, you gave me goose bumps! That’s so nice.

AD: It’s been over a year since I was introduced to you and your musique. In a previous article I wrote last spring, I described you and your album as:

“She is the masterful maker of crazy-amazing musique, that is for everybody, if only some would just put their bottles down and leave the sharks in the water where they belong and forget about ’em quick fixes.”

“As you listen you feel a euphoric sense of what it feels like to travel like the light. Never skipping a beat, leaving every melody intact, hearing her voice sing every note makes you want to cry blood because you are in L.O.V.E.”

AD: And with that, I show you my love with a gift.

VV: OMG! That is so nice. Thank you.

VV Brown On Being Boxed In, Breaking Free And Finding The Sound

AD: I like to think of your album as a collection of musique that has a freedom from fear. I say this because you’ve literally blurred the lines with all musical genres and said, “Look, I can make an eclectic mix of musique and make it damn brilliant too!” Can you walk me through how all these massive sounds came together?

VV: Well, I was tired of people putting me into boxes and telling me who I should be. I totally let go. I started off being obsessed with ’50s culture because I came back from LA and I had a really bad experience. They tried to turn me into this diva. I’m quite down-to-earth. I’m a very down-to-earth girl.

AD: It only comes out when you need to!

Both laugh.

VV: Yeah! With my men! (Snaps fingers.)

VV: But yeah, I was just listening to ’50s music a lot, and I actually used to dress exactly like I’d walked out of a 1950s romantic movie. Now I have the roll — points to hair — I don’t have it today, but I was wearing the exact dresses, the old-school vintage shoes, the nails were immaculate, the hair was pinned perfect.

VV: So I became obsessed with the romantic nature of the ’50s and ’60s, and then the craziness of the ’60s. That’s where it started. I just listened to vinyl music. I didn’t buy CDs — nothing, just vinyl. I bought an old vinyl player. I just escaped into this world.

VV: I was heavily depressed at the time because my life wasn’t going right, so I felt like this world was mine only. It was very imaginative. I could be something, somewhere, another place. Some magic world to get away from what I was feeling. I was heartbroken as well, and among this fantasy world I started to find myself and find what was real to me. Music liberated me so much that I came out of that depression and wrote all these songs about my life. The lyrics were honest.

VV: It was freedom. I didn’t want to think too much about what I should do. It was just going to be me, and I’m not going to care what anyone else thinks. I think that’s why it’s working, because when you start to be yourself people respect you — and I think credibility begins with respect.

The Live Set, The Reggae Version And “Crying Blood”

AD: Should we be expecting any reworked versions of the songs from the first album, or are you going to keep everything original in the same vein of the album?

VV: I think we’re going to keep everything in the same vein because this is my first headline and my album has just come out. I think there are still people coming to the show who are brand new and learning about me, some people who have never been to a live show in America before. So we want to introduce them to the album version — the VV from the album. As the years go down the line and we start to do bigger shows, hopefully we’ll be seeing thousands of people. Then we’ll start rearranging the set and songs in other versions.

AD: Because I was wondering, “I wonder if she’s going to bust out Glastonbury 2009 when she did Crying Blood…”

VV: The reggae version! Oh, we are going to do that. That’s the only thing we do. We always try and do the original first and then — sings intro to reggae version.

AD: …And that note at the end. (Sing-songs high note from the live reggae version of “Crying Blood.”) Yeah, I’m not going to say anything more.

VV: Laughs.

VV Brown’s Personal Music Anthems

AD: Personally, I’ve been curious to know: what are your personal music anthems? I say this because I have themes of life and love. I have songs such as yours, “Everybody,” and every time anything happens I just play it and everything gets put in perspective. What are your personal anthems?

VV: I think “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper, The B-52’s “Love Shack” — it gets me going. I love “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday. It’s so haunting and epitomizes depression in the best way.

VV: “Song 2” by Blur is so punk. It reminds me of my teenage years and me rebelling against the world. Whenever that comes on, if I’m really feeling pissed off — “Whoo-Hooo!” (Laughs and mimics bass line.) It always picks me up!

Downtime, Airplanes And The Real VV

AD: What have you been doing here on your downtime while in the States? Have you found yourself falling in love with any shops or eateries?

VV: I have no downtime. Honestly, I can tell you my schedule is…

AD: “Fresh air is my downtime!”

Both laugh.

VV: Yes! Breathing is my downtime. But I’ll tell you what I do do. I spend a lot of time on aero planes, so I’ve written a book called Gray School Fox. It’s a fantastic witty novel about my life, and I basically take the piss out of myself. My comic book is out, which I’m doing. Those are the kinds of things I do when I’m on aero planes.

The Champagne Video, Courtney Love And Keeping It Real

AD: Back in December, you filmed a video blog where you had some trouble mastering the art of drinking champagne.

VV: Laughs.

AD: Would you and could you say now you make Courtney Love proud? Can you say you’ve mastered that art?

VV: I have not mastered the art. That video, I had so many formal talks about that video. We were just messing around because we were about to go on stage and were so bored. “I’m just going to do this.”

VV: I’m real. I’m a very real person. Anyone who gets to know me is getting the real VV. When you see that video, you really do see the VV my friends know.

Inside The INYIM Interview With VV Brown

Gallery: VV Brown with INYIM Media at EMI Records, NYC.

Watch VV Brown

Check back next Saturday, June 12, 2010, for a special review of VV Brown’s first LA headlining date at the famous Troubadour club.

Special thanks to VV Brown — hey doll face, hope you’ve put those masks to good use! — and her just-as-far-out management for allowing ItsNotYouItsMe.org the opportunity to share the work of great people and musique.

For more on VV Brown, visit vvbrown.com.

Source note: Interview and original editorial feature by Anthony De La Cruz for It’s Not You It’s Me, with VV Brown interview materials, artist links, and INYIM photography preserved for readers.