Los Angeles based rockers Vyces is touring in support of their newest album Spaceuntravel and a hot new single “Thin Luck” which is getting heavy rotation on radio and Sirius XM. This comes as the follow-up to their Devil EP which landed the band their first top 40 radio single with “Nocturnal” along with a scorching video directed by 9Electric frontman Ron Thunderwood featuring Bucher Babies singer Carla Harvey.
Vyces is fronted by Dave Naruszewicz, formerly of Chicago based Heart-Set Self Destruct, along with drummer Russell Ray and guitarist Shawn Patterson, both formerly of Old Fashioned Beatdown. Filling out this outstanding line-up is keyboardist/vocalist Evan Seidlitz (formerly of Thrown Into Exile and Grimace) along with former Breaking Benjamin bassist Mark James Klepaski.
Out on the road with Mushroomhead, Gabriel and the Apocalypse, VentanA and Blood Sun, Side Stage Magazine caught up with Vyces in Covington, Kentucky at the Madison Theater to talk about the new single, the current tour, last week’s Las Rageous festival, the upcoming video for Thin Line and music in general.
This afternoon we are talking to Dave Naruszewicz, with drummer Russell Ray and guitarist Shawn Patterson.
Side Stage Magazine: Let’s start with the tour – How is it going?
Dave: The tour is going great! Our first show of 2018 was Las Rageous where we played in front of 4,000 people with no shows in front of that so no pressure there, right? A fantastic experience. We had some great fan support and response.
We got to hang out with a lot of bands who were there including In This Moment, the Bad Wolves guys, Chris Kael, all of the guys from Ded and the guys from Otherwise. It was just a great day all around and nice to have people actually recognize who we are. It was kind of validating, if you know what I mean. For where we are, we are well aware of how big of a band we are so we got a chance to hang out with a lot of good people, hanging out on the side watching the other bands.
One of the coolest things of the weekend was that we ran into the Hellyeah guys. In my previous band, I toured with them and the drum tech invited us over to Vinnie Paul’s on Sunday for ‘Sunday Funday’. It was literally the first time I’ve ever been nervous to go to a party. It was one of the most memorable, well, kinda memorable days. After about an hour there the tequila started flowing and it was just so easy to talk to everybody. I played air hockey with Vinnie Paul, that was awesome!
He’s the king of air hockey from what I understand.
Russell: He proved it, he proved it that night! I lost by 1 goal and I can tell you I didn’t let him win, he definitely beat me. I thought I had him.
Dave: That night we took off for a nice 26-hour drive to St. Joe Missouri, we played there at Café Acoustic with our good friends Steve and Christina Grimes. They always take care of us. We got in there early and they let us do a live practice. We set up the night before., then started our tour with Mushroomhead on Saturday in Detroit at the Iconic Machine Shop. There was so much energy, man, just energy.
Russell: Everyone there is just so great, Kevin makes sure you are taken care of. The whole staff is just so nice, helping and everything. It’s just so smooth and professional. The sound is gnarley, you know. You hit the kick drum and you feel like you are just going to explode. That’s my sound, you always are going to get it there.
So things have been going really good lately, on a really big high right now?
Dave: it was until we got stuck in the mud, it could have been a lot worse, we were able to get out of there pretty quickly.
So, it’s a 26-hour drive from Las Vegas to Missouri?
Dave: It is with a van and a trailer. It’s 55 MPH. You are going through the mountains, it’s snowing, you can’t see. You have to slow down.
Russell: Yeah, it was pretty brutal driving through there. Shawn and I were up and it was like, going through the mountains and the snow is coming at you so fast I can’t even see the car in front of me. It’s like you are driving at light speed. Meanwhile, I’m going like 10 miles per hour, it’s insane. Pretty nerve-racking but we did it. We muscled through it.We are always going to be where we need to be so it was all good.
Ok, so tell me about your new single, “Thin Luck”, how’s it being received?
Dave: You know, we are getting a lot of really good response. People are really digging it. People have been requesting it so that’s really positive. We have a pretty good radio guy so when he believes in something you can hear it in his voice. He isn’t going to blow smoke up our asses or anything. He was like, that’s the one. That’s the one we are going with no questions asked, you know, because we trust him. He did so well with Nocturnal. For a brand new… for that single to hit top 40 hit was a big thing for us. It’s all about building, you know, forward progress and stuff like that.
The next step in the Thin Luck saga is our music video. We just got the first draft of it back, just the other day and It’s the coolest thing!
Russell: We are really excited about it.
Dave: it’s coming out within the next week or two, we shot it in LA at Tiger Live Studios in our director’s house.
Have you done some video work with Ron Thunderwood?
Russell: Oh yeah, he has done all of our music videos. He really topped himself with this video. Every single time we do a video with him, we are like Oh, this is great. Then we see the next one and we are like Oh this is great, this is the best!
When he sent us the video for Nocturnal, Dave and I are driving down Hollywood Blvd and we’ve got like 5 grand of lights sticking out of my car and we are watching it for the first time while we are driving. It was just one of those experiences where it’s like OK, it’s going to be a good year, you know.
Dave: He’s topped it again. He does amazing work. It’s funny, he’s just one of those guys where we really connect. I’m a visual person so when I talk to him he knows exactly what I’m talking about. If somebody was listening in on the conversation it would sound like two crazy people but he gets it. The “Nocturnal” video, as well as the “Thin Luck” video, came out exactly how I envisioned it so just to be able to connect with him on that level is awesome!
In The Nocturnal video don’t you have Carla Harvey of the Butcher Babies in it? How was that and how was Carla to work with?
Dave: She was awesome to work with. After she broke the ice a little bit it was really great. When Carla walked in, she’s like a naturally super gorgeous person. She is just so down to earth and cool. She was down to really getting into the acting and stuff like that and she knocked it outta the park. She was great to work with and then we all went out and hung out with her afterwards.
Russell: We went to Skinny’s and when Carla walks in we are all like soldiers, straighten up, standing at attention. She’s really funny and a cool chick.
I got see Carla when she was in a local band called Switchblade Kitty back in LA and they were just incredible.
So let’s talk about this tour. You started off in Detroit a couple of days ago and you have 5 bands touring with you which is a lot to tour with isn’t it?
Dave: Everybody has their way. Its day three so there hasn’t really been any hanging out with anybody yet but it will get there. Everybody is really cool. We have been focused more on making enough room on the stage for everybody’s stuff. So after day 1 we are all gear sharing now which is a lot easier for us. We are using their bass cab and they are using our guitar cab’s so everyone has more room.
The Mushroomhead camp has been just awesome, whatever we need they clear for us so it’s going to be a fun tour. We are here to make new fans, they are the ones selling the tickets.
How about the band, is it the three of you that are writing all of the songs, how does it all come together?
Dave: Yes, the three of us along with our producer. We basically come up with a vocal melody or Shawn will come up with a riff and we start from there. We try to write so our vocal melodies fit. If you write a vocal melody first and it’s strong, you already know it fits. You are not writing the music first and then try to make the vocals fit in. It’s kind of a crapshoot that way. This is also the first time I’ve written like this and it’s made me 100 times a better musician because now we are writing songs that we already know we have these massive melodies for so the key is to write all of the breakdowns or whatever it needs to be before and after it to bring it all together and compliment it. What’s cool about our band is that we don’t have any egos. We want to do what’s right for the song and whats right for the band.
Russell: Yeah, there is no tug and pull, like I need this gnarly ass drum fill or this blistering guitar solo. How do we have the song the best it can be? That’s what matters most. Shawn comes up with some of the most amazing riffs I’ve heard in my life and our producer Augustus Cryns with the drumbeats. He has helped me become a better drummer with some if the ideas that he has. I would have never thought of that, you know It’s cool. We go back and forth, trying things. There is never demo-itis which results in some awesome songs. It’s a true blessing because I’ve been in some bands before where it didn’t work like this.
Dave: There’s not too many cooks in the kitchen, so if someone brings in an idea it’s pretty cut and dry if it’s going to be good or not, I mean you can hear it right away. We Frankenstein a lot of different stuff together till we find the things that work. At the end of the day, it’s a Vyces song and it’s all gotta be right.
How about your Influences and writing style – Where do they come from?
Dave: Everywhere. I just like good songs. I mainly listen to a lot of hard rock and metal but I come from a classic rock background. I grew up watching MTV with my dad and it was everything from Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne to A-Ha and Simple Minds. They are all good songs whether you like them or not.
Shawn: I love the big band music of the 40’s, 50’s & 60’s. I do live Sinatra and the whole Rat Pack. I mean, Dean Martin is just awesome. I love those guys. They were rock stars before there were rock stars
Dave: If you would ever come by our dressing rooms, if we have one, you would hear 80’s music blasting out of there and you will hear us singing at the top of our lungs.
Russell: Stuff that just makes you feel good.
Guys, I appreciate all of your time, is there anything that you would want to leave the Vyces fans with?
Shawn: First of all, Thank You! The fans have been incredible. We are seeing people returning to shows, which is great. Now that we are seeing these fans again we are finding new things that we have to add or throw in so that’s great. We have some new music that we brought to the set, we have really stepped up our game on our stage performance. Keep on the lookout for the new music video and make sure to visit Vycesofficial.com.
Dave: It’s one of those videos that gives me a chill, and I want to show it to everybody right now!
