is one of Richmond's top talented
singer-songwriters. The 24 year
old musician taps into an honest
and organic style of music using
accoustic gutiar mixed in with
piano,violin, bass,djembe, and
female vocals.
Band members:Robert Parker
Vaughan, Noah Denney, Andrew
Saunders, and Gor Narang
So, how did you get started with creating the band, when did
that come about?
In the summer of 2006 all my friends that go to school in various places came home for their summer
vacation. Noah (drummer) said that he wanted to set up a full band and play my solo acoustic music
in full band form. I needed a bass player and within a week of a posting on myspace, Andrew was
found. I asked Gor to join us as a keyboardist.
How old were you when you picked up your first guitar?
12 years old, but I did not really start playing music until I was 16. I had taken lessons for many years
learning all the Guns'N'Roses and Metallica riffs I could. In high school I formed a punk band with a
couple friends called Nakas, and truly began to play guitar.
For someone that has never been to one of your shows, what are they missing out on? What could
they expect if they saw you live?
An honest performance of songs that I am very proud. Sometimes I'll play solo acoustic, sometimes I
will have various musicians spontaneously join me, other times you will see a full-band rocking...
Speaking of writing songs, how is,
generally, the creative process? How
does that work? I know it’s always
different, but do you start off with the
riff first or the lyrics?
Totally random. Generally, I'll just
start playing around with something
on the guitar and sing with it. I'll work
on it for a really long time and
eventually it will feel done. Other
times the songs really start to flow
immediately and I don't stand up until
I have a final thought completed;
generally those songs I find to be
stronger.
With the song “The Hunt Is On Me”, what was some of the motivation that came for that one?
I had written the lyrics, a basic vocal melody, and one guitar riff that was reminiscent of Silverchair's
Frogstomp days. I could not really finish it, so I put it in the back of my mind forever and forgot about
it. A friend of mine was reading all my lyrics, stumbled across the songs and told me they were great
lyrics and I that I should finish the song. Soon after that, I went to my friend Brian Vaughn's home
studio to record some of my songs. I decided to jam on that song for some reason. Brian joined in and
we kept jammin' 'til we finished the album version of the song that night. Furious Gor added the Fruity
Loops work that can be heard on the version I have posted on myspace.
Now, is there any relation to Brian?
No, no. Different spelling of the name. I have one more A.
What’s the best part about being a musician? What do you enjoy about it?
It's what I love to do. I think a lot of musicians love to go out and party after they play shows for their
good time. I would rather go home and play more music.
Who would you say some of your musical influences are? Whether it’s actually someone in your life
who had maybe a musical talent or someone who you just look up to. What kind of spurred you into
the music business?
Well I guess, my first kind of love for music
came from jammin' with other people. Me and
my friend Jonathan Givens just jammed
together for hours and hours and hours when
we were in high school. There were times
where school would be cancelled and we'd
spend all day just writing songs. When I went
to college, my high school band was over and I
no longer had my musical outlet because I was
always the lead guitar player; I never sang. I
decided I had to learn to be self-sufficient, and
with the encouragement from one of my
best-friends, Akshay Narang, I finally started to
work on singing. Akshay has been a huge
influence on my music in the sense that he has
always pushed me to become better in all
aspects of music. He is the first person I ever
sang in front of, he convinced me to take all
sorts of musical training, and to this day, we
still critique each others songs in attempts to
make each other better.
What’s the biggest challenge in trying to find success as a band here in Richmond?
The biggest challenge is having people come out to your shows when they have no idea who you
are. I promote myself all by myself. I'm on myspace all the time trying to talk to people and introduce
them to my music, so hopefully they will come out to a show. The problem is that this world is
over-saturated with many musicians and various other forms of entertainment. Its a big deal when
someone gives you their attention on their Friday or Saturday night.
Speaking of Myspace, I personally think that it’s an amazing tool and resource. As a musician how
much do you think that myspace helps you?
Well being a musician and not having a booking agency or a label it's the only way I can promote
myself really. It's cheaper than putting up flyers and it's more affective because people can just go
and listen to your music. It's almost like an audio-flyer.
With instant feedback from networking sites and blogs, in general, do you pay attention to the
comments that people make about your music?
I appreciate anyone being honest and I love to hear anything constructive, good or bad. I will try to
learn from all feedback to make my music the best it can be. Sometimes that will mean heeding
advice, other times it mean ignoring with an invisible middle finger.
What are some bands that you like to go out and listen to?
My first concert was Aerosmith and I still love them to death. Recently I have seen Alicia Keys, Nine
Inch Nails, Jamie Cullum, Fiona Apple, Headautomatica, Mute Math, as well as many amazing
independent musicians in Virginia.
What makes a band stand out
from just being mediocre? What
are the elements that really makes
you a good band?
Well-crafted songs and a tight live
performance.
Where would you like to see your
band go from here?
I have a new full-band CD coming
out on December 29th and I hope
to promote it at the bigger,
well-known venues.
Here is the fishbowl question, the band Stone Lucy would like to know:
What is your song-writing process? How do you sit down and create? Do you start with lyrics, music,
a general thought to express...what? And, also, why is Will Decher the best guitar player in
Richmond, and why are his abs so amazing?
The song writing process differs everytime, just let it happen or not happen. Will Decker is the best
guitarist in RVA, because of his magical lip ring. Ask him to take it out and he won't dare pick up a
guitar, try it out... oh and my abs, rock squats, I suppose!
Vaughan??
Go to
www.robertparkervaughan.com
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