Comedian Daniel Tosh once told a joke
that said “Being an ugly woman is like being a man: You're going to
have to work.” In certain cases, that may be true. However,
regardless of looks, women more often than not have to work harder
than their male counterparts. Even still, though, it can be more
difficult for a woman to gain the recognition they deserve,
regardless of how hard they work.
If there is one place this holds true
more than any, it's in the music industry, especially in rock and
roll. When most people think of women involved in music, the image of
a glits and glamor pop-star comes in to mind. In the 90's, Courtney
Love did help to shed that image, but her fame was mostly related to
her marriage to Kurt Cobain.
Fronted by Kate Ortiz, New Jersey band
Vextion is defying the odds. Coming off of their debut at this year's
Seaside Music Festival in Seaside Heights, NJ, Kate and bassist Max
Orozco discuss what it's like being a female-fronted band and what
it's like in the music scene.
Dolla Bil Facciponte: First of
all, I have to ask, how was your first performance at the Seaside
Music Fest?
Kate Ortiz: It was awesome! We
had a big crowd. Everyone was having a good time and really seemed to
enjoy the music. I think our crowd doubled from the time we started
to the middle of our set.
DB: Were you excited?
Max Orozco: Of course! Seaside
is my back yard so it's always fun to play there
KO: We've been wanting to play
this for like two years and we finally got on so it's awesome.
DB: Did you guys do anything
different for this show than you would any other?
KO: We did a couple covers.
Usually we'll only do one. Plus Seaside usually has cover bands and
there's going to be a lot of drinking.
MO: It was kind of my idea.
People are going to be walking by on the boardwalk and hear something
they hear on the radio and they'll want to come inside.
DB: That's a very good point. I
want to talk briefly about other shows you've done. You've done a lot
of charity shows such as the Move for Hunger Benefit, the Telethon
for Muscular Dystrophy, and a show to raise awareness for Turner's
Syndrome. Why do you guys get involved in these benefit shows?
KO: We try to help people with
what we do. We're not rich and famous yet, so we can't write a check,
so we try to do something to help out.
MO: Yeah, we're musicians so if
we can help people with our music in any way, it's a good thing.
DB: Did you guys have any
personal reasons for doing these shows?
KO: We really just want to try
and help.
DB: That's very commendable. Now I
want to talk about your album. You released “What I Am” last
summer. How was the recording process? Did you guys have a lot of fun
with it?
MO: It took forever.
KO: It was a lot of fun! I
actually recorded it so it was also very stressful. While we were
recording it, Max had just joined the band.
MO: Yeah, I joined and they were
like “You're in the band now, now let's go record all these songs
you barely know.
KO: Yeah, that sounds about
right. I was really happy to be done. Recording your own band is
weird and stressful and you start to hate your own songs because you
hear them in practice everyday, you hear them when you're recording
them and then when you're mixing them and it will drive you a little
insane. But, I was really happy to finally accomplish that CD.
DB: Max, how nerve racking was
it for you to jump into the band and then all of a sudden you're in
the studio recording?
MO: I'm pretty awesome so it
wasn't that bad. But it was interesting. I've never been thrown into
a situation like that. It all worked out for the best and I'm very
happy with the album.
DB: Do you guys have plans to do
more recording any time soon?
KO: We do. We're actually doing
some scratch recording for our second CD right now. We're taking our
time with this one because the last one got rushed out because we
just needed something to offer so we're taking our time, getting
everything perfect and then we're going to do the real recording and
have an amazing sounding second CD. Hopefully we'll have another CD
out by next summer. We really want to take our time with it and make
it perfect because we had to rush the first one a bit more than I
would have liked just so we could have something for the fans. I
think we'll definitely release a single or two in the meantime, maybe
in the next few months.
DB: I'm sure it helps that you
guys have had some more time together to mesh as a band and figure
out who plays what kind of styles and the capabilities of everyone.
Now you can put a lot more collaborative effort into it.
KO: Yeah, it's going to be a lot
better. When we started recording the drums, Bob was pretty new to
the band. Now we know what we're playing and what everyone else [in
the band] is playing so we can put it together and make it sound like
one piece.
MO: Exactly. The difference
between the new recordings and the ones that are out is that we wrote
these songs together as opposed to just learning someone's part.
DB: Well you talk about Bob and
Max being new to the band when you first recorded. All of you came
from different bands and have been playing for the past five to 10
years. How did you all find each other?
KO: All different ways. I met
George when we played a show together and he was with his old band
and he found out we were looking for a second guitarist and a
drummer. Bob actually found us on MySpace, yeah, that long ago and we
also had an ad on Craigslist which he found so we tried him out and
he worked really well.
MO: I found them on Craigslist.
DB: For anybody trying to come
up in the music scene, it's challenging. Do you feel it's harder
being a female-fronted band?
KO: Sometimes. It depends on the
crowd. More times then not, they're really accepting. As long as you
play good music, they're going to listen. I think every once in a
while we'll get that one jerk who discriminates against us or says
inappropriate things because I'm a girl, but it's not too hard to
shut them up.
DB:
I just heard this the other day and I really wanted to get your input
on it. Halestorm is the first female fronted band to be number one on
the rock charts. do you think this is going to help you guys as far
as gaining credibility and respect?
KO:
First
off. That's really surprising that they're the first. There have been
so many great female fronted bands over the years. Great for them
though! As far as respect and credibility...Maybe it'll help. But
honestly we haven't ran into to many road blocks with the band being
female fronted. I think maybe there might be some people who will
make assumptions because I'm a girl before we play...but I think we
show them what's up once we hit the stage! People seems to really
respond well to our sound and our energy.
DB: What would you consider the
best show you ever did?
MO: This is actually funny. A
family member of mine teaches middle school in Barnegat. They just
did really well on their standardized tests so they asked if we'd
come play. I didn't think anything of it so I made some calls and got
everyone on board. So we played in the gym of this middle school and
it was ridiculous.
KO: Yeah, we got to play two
sets. We did one for the sixth and eighth graders, which was probably
about 300 kids. Then we played for the seventh graders and that was
probably another 200 kids and they went insane for us! If you had
seen that, you would've thought we were the biggest band in the
world. It was awesome. I don't think we've ever had a more receptive
show. One girl looked like she was going to cry when I high-fived
her.
DB: Is music your number one
passion and if so, has it always been?
KO: For me, yes. For as long as
I can remember, I always played the cheesy, cheap musical
instruments, or at least tried to, and I knew I always wanted to play
music.
MO: I've always loved music. I
think my first memory of music is “Achey-Breaky Heart” in the
back of my moms crappy Pontiac. I've just always been a fan of music.
I started off with just radio hits and then I discovered rock music
and thought it was awesome. Then I discovered metal and thought it
was awesome. Then I discovered hip-hop and I was opened up to a whole
new world.
DB: It kind of shows in your
songs. You hear all the different influences from pop to rock to
heavy metal. Is that everybody's collective influences?
KO: Yeah, I don't think any of
us have the same taste in music in this band. There's a few bands
here and there we agree on but as a whole, our tastes are opposite
sides of the spectrum.
DB: I almost hate to ask the
question, but out of personal curiosity, I have to know. What's the
meaning behind the name?
KO: I just kind of came up with
it. I've been in other bands before and the names have been just
really generic. So when you go to look them up, there's 40 other
bands with the same name and I just didn't want to do that again. I
wanted something interesting that no one else would have. It's like
the way I come up with songs, it kind of just happened.
MO: My personal favorite thing
about the name is it's not a word. So if you type “Vextion” in a
search engine, we're the first thing that pops up.
KO: People pay thousands of
dollars for that privilege but we got it just by being weirdo's.
DB: Do you have any advice for
anyone trying to make it in the music scene?
KO: Networking is the most
important thing in the entire world. You could be the best band in
the world but if you don't work with other people, you're going to be
stuck in the same spot forever. And don't get discouraged. I've
played awful shows where people didn't like us or we played to one
person who was a relative in the middle of the dance floor and that
was it. You have to play those crappy shows to get to the really good
ones. It's a right of passage.
DB: Very well said. Thank you
very much and I wish you the best of luck!