Written By: Khadeeja Coonrod Photos By: Ed Hannigan
View all of Ed's Nico Vega photos here.
What do you get when you take a hard hitting rock band that's full of three talented musicians? A whole lot of sound that should be thought to have ten people making music. This L.A. American rock band is Nico Vega, who knows how to turn up the volume. Nico Vega formed in 2005 and has a self-titled album out on Myspace Records, which had Linda Perry and Tim Edgar on production and Tchad Blake mixing.
The album starts with "Burn Burn," and the lyrics are telling, "Even if we tell a lie nobody's gonna know until we fall back, fall back. Even though we're so sharp. Even if we tell a lie nobody's gonna know until we fall back, fall back. I built this house on solid ground. Will you come and stay with me? I'll settle down." The guitar riffs speed up and go with the flow of Aja's voice who echos behind in the background. The chorus repeats at the end with both the guitar and drums until they all suddenly all go off in unison. The guitar and drum intro set the album nicely in until you hear the singers voice who is in between singing and wailing but in a beautiful rhythm.
"Million Years" reminds of a song that would be heard in a video game with guns. "I'll be around for a million years. No matter how hard you try you can't fuck with this," a statement about a female being mad after a man tries to play her. The music gets a satanic sound in the background after the flirt lines are revealed.
"So So Fresh" is as if there's a teasing going on, "You're so so fresh even when you drop it, you turn like a man. I know you're just a boy but I can hardly tell and no one I really can." Aja's voice backgrounds sounds like a chant as her voice teases saying "Na na na na na na na."
"Living Underground" puts me in the mood to watch a Children of the Corn flick, "We are in demand of the truth. We are children of the world. We wear all of our scars. We stand up and we fight for what we choose. We are in demand of a name." Aja's voice sings in a soft soothing while the guitar and drums come out in an 80's rock form then Aja's voice comes out in a snarl as she belts out the song then the guitar and her voice blend together to go from soft like a whisper, builds up louder, and it ends in a trance like state.
"Wooden Dolls" comes with the soft overtones in this. I could hear Linda Perry's influence on this one as I thought of 4 Non Blondes, What's Up. The voice was simple as all the theatrics were stripped away. Aja's voice was singing like a mother sings to a child. Her voice cuts to the core of the spirit and gets strong only to go back to being soft once again.
"Iron Man" is my personal favorite by Nico Vega. "You are relentless in the way you ask me so many questions of my days in the city. I wish that I could tell you something. I'm a hostage of my pride. I'll take all the heat you're packing. 'Cause I'm an iron man. I'm an iron man. You are relentless in the way that you know me and I'm a sheep when it comes to explaining. I wish that I could keep you happy. I wish that I can could keep you young. Please forgive me for the distance, but I'm an iron man. I'm an iron man. You are relentless in the way that you love me and I'm afraid of the thoughts that you're making. I wish that I could know the difference between your smiles and your frowns. Now I'm buried in the armor 'cause I'm an iron man. I'm an iron man." The mood is a touch of space meets heaven on earth in a labyrinth setting.
On Nico Vega's Myspace, under influences, this was said, "Any sort of passion, fire, or interaction between two people, or many people. Any person who has the will to lead people and sacrifice their own needs for the well being of others. Any warrior with a purpose, or a mission, and any artist who is not scared to be great. Anybody that decides to forgive themselves for the mistakes that they have made, and change for the better. We have a lot of musical influences, probably similar to the ones that you like. Oh...and, anybody who is a Lion at heart (support the pack, and be strong without judgement)." I was struck by how genuine the words are. I had to share that with anyone who didn't know about them before reading this.
Nico Vega's band members are: Aja- Singer, Rich- Guitar, Dan- Drums.
