It was like such a culture shock, you know, just being like so young and moving like that. But I had to fly back and forth on the plane, you know, to visit Arizona. And when I was finally old enough to, I made a decision that I wanted to move to Arizona and not stay in Texas. Because I love it there, but it's like the little country, you know, it's like twenty-two hundred people. I just recently came back from visiting over there after not seeing my mother and brother in like eight years and being back there in 23 years and it's a lovely place.
It's home to me, but it's definitely it wasn't going to be my life you know, it's just too rural for me and like too slow and like I guess I always was a dreamer I knew kind of what I wanted to do with my life when I was young and like whether it made sense or not I just I guess even when I was young, I kind of realized that like If I wouldn't have gone for my dreams, whether it happened or not, then I would have like probably been sad that I didn't, you know, try to like live my life the way I wanted to.
So I moved here in 2001 and I've lived in Arizona ever since. Yeah, I was here with my dad lived in Arizona. So just me and my dad over here, and my dad died eight years ago. And when that happened, I just, I started writing poems. When I'd ride my bike, I'd start to write little poems in my head, and I would just try to, you know, remember it, and I couldn't remember, because I didn't like to stop my bike when I ride. I just, I'm weird when I ride, I have a mission, and I just complete it, you know, but, I started like taking notes or whatever, and then every time I have a thought, just like adding to it, and I guess writing my first songs.
And I was with a guy at the time who went to the Conservatory for Recording Arts, and he had all the gear in his house and he was a bass player and guitar and all that and he was just like, you should make songs. So I had a band, you know, my first band was General Anxiety. We only had it for eight months or something like that.
I think we started in 2017 and ended 2018. And then when that happened, that's when Instagram was really starting to grow and I started watching Sniffers, NIIS, Surfbort, and Starcrawler. And I was watching those ladies or, you know, those heroes to me. Just like, man, one day I want to have a band again. I want to have something like that, you know, and just like thinking of all my idols in my life, you know. And then I ended up getting together with my husband, Jamie. We've been married almost six years now. And he needed a drummer in his band, and the band's called Manoz Zuziaz.
And, he had me start playing drums, and I'd never played drums before. And so that was kind of difficult, you know, but I had to learn. And I learned really quickly, and I play really shitty, but I can play the drums. And then he wanted me to start singing some of the songs too, so, I would sing and play at the same time.
And so he and I kind of were going through some shit, you know, together during the pandemic and we're crazy together, but you know, it's crazy love, you know how it is. So we took a little break from each other for 10 months and really I started working on Vicky Vicious. Started the band in May of last year.
I think our first show was maybe July of last year at Candy and Records in Phoenix, Arizona. It's like a record store and they put on an event for reproductive rights and I was so pumped. It was like in the New Times and everything and our drummer Vinny, I saw him on Facebook like posting little videos of going to punk shows and making videos of the bands and stuff and I was like, bro, would you like to come to my first show? And, you know, make some video, trying to get some press for it or whatever. And he brought his daughter and I guess he was really blown away. So he told me that he played the drums. And when I was in a pinch and needed a drummer and he said he'd help out and he ended up staying and he's like such the backbone in the band. Like, I don't know what I would do without Vinny really. I mean, he is really like one of my best friends in my life. Hold on, I'm going to take a drink of water because my mouth is, you know, I smoked a little, you know, it's legal here in Arizona. Okay, I'm going to get out of the car. So, you're recording all this?
Nic: Yeah.
Vicky: You can cut it up, right?
Nic: Oh yeah, no, I think I'll probably end up transcribing it. It might end up being written. We're going to play with medium a little bit, but yeah.
Vicky: Sweet. So, Johnny Eckenrode, he's our guitar player. When I needed a guitar player, I was like, well, I'll ask Johnny , you know, and Johnny's like a really good guitar player and he knows everything about guitars. He's a luthier. You know, he's amazing and I didn't think he'd say yes and he was like you. I'd love to try out. And I'm so lucky that he wanted to be in the band and, you know, so I have like a lot of history with these people. And then now we have Jackson. I don't need to really go into the other bass players because he's the only one. Hopefully he'll stay around, but, he's 25, I believe. I'm kind of attached to him because I have a daughter. She's almost 19. When she was 4, I used to take her on Sundays to this little local venue and there was like a Grateful Dead cover band, you know you take your kids over there and have a drink or whatever and listen to music and the kids could dance and stuff but so Jackson's dad is the drummer of that band and so like it's crazy. We just we're all really connected so, they're my boys.
We've only had the band a little over a year. The songs, the original songs, the first four songs that I had were songs that were mine before I was with them. So, getting them up to speed at the very beginning was hard. I was hoarse all the time because I have to like, pretty much scream all the songs because they had to know where the turn is in the song and like, you know, kind of build a song a little bit.
But I had the words ahead of time and just little sketches for Tidal Wave, Masturbate, Over and Over and, uh, ooh, what was the other one? Trying to remember right now. Oh, I don't even know. Wow.
click on the sick images, you won't
Anyways, Shark Week. We put that out August 17th, I think we have almost 3, 500 streams on Spotify for Masturbate right now. So, that's pretty good, you know. Take three months or so. I'm pretty happy about that. There's a punk podcast that found us because I sent them a message on Instagram and they played us in stations all over the world. So it's really cool to see on Spotify that people in Australia are listening to us. People say all the time, we sound like Amyl and the Sniffers. So, that's like a huge honor, like I said. So I'm excited. It's really growing. I love it. Like whatever happens with it. I'm just happy to do it. And I don't really expect anything from it. But I really am so blessed that people are responding to it, especially the younger people, because I'm a mother, you know, and that's a huge part of my life. And I think inspiring young people is really important to me because, you know, I had really such a wild life. I've just been a little bit of a nomad in my life. My mom kicked me out when I was 12, you know, and I ran away from home when I was 16. So I've pretty much been on my own and I don't know.
I think it's just important to show people that it doesn't matter what age you are, whatever the fuck you want to do you can do it, you know. And yeah, don't let anybody tell you can't because you can and anything you want to do you can do it.
Nic: Yeah, no, I love that I think that was awesome. So, as I was listening, I felt like you had a lot of, I guess like importance on like when you're getting your band together and, you know, putting the people into it and, what does that process of finding the right people to work on a project like this look like?
And I mean, how important is that for you when you're looking to really get a group like this off the ground and going?
Vicky: I think for me, it's more about just having a good chemistry together with people and really building a relationship with them. You know, because being in a band, just from being really in a band with my husband, I kind of learned more than anything.
You know, it was just like, we didn't have any other members. It was just the two of us, and so we didn't have anybody else to rely on and that's really easy. And so when you're in a band, you know, it's like you have all these other people and you know, like what they need and everything too. And so, you have to make sure everybody's happy, everybody's having a good time.
That makes the vibe, you know, that kind of puts the vibe there, you know. You're showing each other that you trust each other, you're building the trust, you're showing you care about each other. Everybody's being heard, and it just starts to kind of like, You know what I mean? A relationship builds, you know? Because a relationship doesn't have to be like, you know, romantic. And, actually the fun thing is in the band, you know, because we all are a little bit older, except for Jackson, Jackson's like probably the most mature one in the band, but, because we all are like really friends and we respect each other in that way, it's like we really, really love each other.
And I think that that is why we have such a connection in the music is we really want the best for each other. And we're all trying to do a really good job because we want to make it good for everybody else. And that's not even about like anybody trying to put it on more than anybody else for themselves. I mean, I really don't even feel like the leader of the band or anything like that at all. I mean, it's all of us.
I couldn't do it without them and they really support my message and I don't know that's what it's all about. Really. It's just having that respect and togetherness just makes the music kind of come together. I mean at practice the boys will just start like jamming on something and I'm like recording everything all the time so I'm like that's a song, that's a song. It's just because they feel each other and they feel comfortable with each other.
Nic: Yeah, that's awesome. You mentioned starting to mentally note lyrics on your bike rides and such. And I mean, what was your kind of path for getting into music? Did it start with that kind of poetry front or how did you find yourself there?
Vicky: Yeah, so when I was young I always noticed I would hear songs on the radio as an example, so silly but I remember being in the backseat and hearing Amy Grant and Baby Baby on the radio, and I knew all the words to the song, and my mom was like, how do you know the words? And I'm like I heard it, you know, and so any song that I hear, I can just quickly memorize the words and the melody and stuff like that. So I always had that, you know, but then my mom would always tease me that I couldn't sing or dance. So, I was shy to do it in front of anybody, but I'd practice alone a lot. And so I just would sing everything. I wouldn't even have any discrimination towards the style of music in some ways, just because I wanted to practice, trying to make my voice sound like theirs. And I always wanted to be an actor, so I did acting for a long time. And when I was five years old, I saw Gone with the Wind, and I knew I wanted to be an actor. So that was something that I was always like, kind of dreaming of doing. And I've done voice acting, and so well also, part of the reason why I started Vicky Vicious is because I did phone sex for a while when my dad died. Yeah, it's whatever. It's naughty, but that's part of it, you know, because my character I played at one point her name was Vicky and she was like a dom, you know. They asked if I wanted to be a dom or a sub and I was like, well, I want to be dom because I want to be mean to people, you know, but actually it was really cool because people are really vulnerable and they would open up in certain ways and I got to learn a lot more about, you know, human nature and how men think and everything.
And just something I put into, when I started this band, even every song on Shark Week, I try to make it sound like a little bit of a different character, I use the voice a little bit different for everything. You know, if you're walking down a hall and you opened up a door to a room, every room is like a different like, you know, motif or something.
Nic: Inspiration through maybe atypical routes, right? That mention of phone sex, I think it's really interesting, finding that kind of inspiration from that. Are there things you found throughout life in places you weren't expecting it?
Vicky: Yeah. I mean, the things that I would write about at the very beginning were like, you know, I would just try to, I was trying to write things a little bit more in your face, like sexual or whatever, but, I guess the way, cause you asked a little bit before this about my process of writing and stuff like that, is poems. And, for a while when I wasn't with my husband we took a little break. I was like going through a lot of shit and I was like going on a lot of walks and I would just make an assignment for myself every day. If I couldn't think of something I'd make an assignment like try to write about, um, butts. But then also write about something that you can eat. So. That's how I wrote that song, Butts, that single that I did.
So, you know, I just would make an assignment about something, like, oh, you know, or unless something would come into my mind when I'm walking.
That's kind of what I do. Like, I have a new song that's coming out in our next EP in January. Panty Sniffer, I wrote it because I was at a bar about to play a show and this lady was like so drunk and she was with her husband and she was like, I'm your biggest fan. I found you on Instagram. I don't know how I found you, but I would just die to have a picture with you. And it was like so sweet. I took a picture and we were all sitting on a bench and the whole band hanging out and I was like looking in the opposite direction like the band was talking and other guys were talking, and she bit me on the arm. She bit my arm like over and over again like 30 times, and I felt like really freaked out and I started having a panic attack. So I went to the bathroom and I was hiding out in the stall and I sniffed my panties because like they were wet and I was anxious and I think I did it as like a grounding thing, like I smelled them and I started to cry because I was like, what's wrong with me?
I smell my panties, you know? And so then I said, oh my God, I just sniffed my panties at the bar. And then I was like, so what? They only smell like me. And so then I was like, damn, that's the beginning of a song right there. So I started writing a song right there in the bathroom stall. So, anyways, that is kind of what I do.
Nic: Yeah, that's awesome, except for the part where you get bit by a fan.
Vicky: Yeah.
Nic: When people listen to your music, what kind of feeling are you hoping they leave with?
Vicky: Empowered. You know what I mean? If it's not a fuck yes, it's a no. You know what I mean? Be in charge. You know what I mean? Like, it's your life, live it. Don't hurt anybody. You know what I mean? Live your life and enjoy yourself and fuck what anybody thinks about you. Cause you know what I mean? Like time's going to pass and you're just missing out on living your life.
Nic: Yeah. I love that. Do you think music should have a message? And, if yes, does yours?
Vicky: I don't think it should have to have a message, no. I think you can, you, I think you, it's okay if you don't. I think some of my songs definitely do, and they're obvious, but I think it's okay if some of them don't.
But I do like to write about things that I experience, or things that I see, or people that I know. That's just how I write. And those things to me were lessons in one way or another. So, it's a message to me. If you get a message from it for you, then that's badass. But, if it doesn't have one that I'm directly putting out there, then that's okay with me.
Nic: You've mentioned a lot of like following your passion. Is that something you feel like is a very strong pillar in your own life?
Vicky: Yes, absolutely. At the end of the day, it is like something that I've always put everything else behind.
You know, I've lost relationships over it. You know, people being like, I don't like it that you do these acting projects all the time. You're not making any money or whatever. It's like, well, sorry. That's the thing that's going to make me not want to be with you or around you. Don't tell me I can't do something that I have to do. I have to do it, or else I feel so empty inside if I'm not able to express myself. Because everybody can make art, you know, it's just everything tells you that you can't and you listen to it and then you don't. You can do it like anything you want to do, you can do it. If you wanna start crocheting, you just gotta start practicing. And you can, you'll be great at crocheting. You just gotta put in the work, and you gotta do it, you know? If somebody tries to tell me I can't do what I'm passionate about, or whatever, it's just not gonna work out, you know?
Yeah, no, it's in me, I can't help it, you know? I get antsy if I'm not busy doing something. I mean, I'm gonna start playing drums again. It's in me, I have to create, and I think everybody does in their own way, whether it's like cooking or, you know, everybody maybe has a little something that they do. I hope. It helps keep me sane, for sure. As much as I can be.
Nic: Yeah, fair enough, same. So in this kind of vein, why do you think people make art?
Vicky: I would like to think that they just make it for themselves, you know, to begin with, and they're not making it for anybody else. Just to express something that they're feeling, or they went through, or they don't understand. I think it's a little bit of a conversation with yourself. Like an external conversation with yourself or something like that. I don't know. For me, that's what it is. I put the experience down on paper, and I put it out there and it's kind of like when you go to therapy. You talk about it and now you feel a little bit better because you put it out there. If you're afraid to do it, you're so afraid you're crying because you're afraid to go therapy and say the thing. And then once you say the thing, it's like, wow, I feel so light, you know, I let it go. And I didn't die from it. It's the same thing with creating. Like everybody thinks that their art sucks and everybody else loves it. Yeah, 'cause you're brave enough to do it. You're brave enough to put it out there.
Nic: Yeah. I love that.
Vicky: Another thing that I had to tell myself is just because I'm not doing something every day doesn't mean that I'm not a creative person. Because, you know, there are times where we are all going through things and we have to focus on other things for a little bit and take a pause.
That doesn't mean that you're not an artist anymore. You still are and what you've made in the past is still relevant, you know, and it's going to speak to somebody, whether you want it to or not. So like, that doesn't make anything that you do any less important and you shouldn't give up just because you aren't doing it right now.
Nic: Yeah, no, I completely agree. Is there anything you want to mention, anything you want to promote or shout out?
Vicky: You can listen to us on a lot of different platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, all that good stuff. Shark Week is the name of our EP. It's been out since August 17th. It's got five songs on it. Then we have a single, Butts, that we did with Chloe Chaidez. I hope I'm saying it right. I love her so much. PSY is her label. She's a queen. Her and I work so well together. I'd love to work with her in the future.
We're putting on our next EP, Collateral Damage, in January. Really excited for that. It's a different sound, but a lot of different cool shit in this album. I'm really excited about it. We don't have anything big planned. We don't even have any shows planned for next year. We're just open for whatever. We're ready to travel if that's what is to come. But I'd like to get on some shows with some bands that I've always wanted to. That would be awesome. I would love to play with Scowl or all those bands I want to play with, I love any of them. So that would be a dream, but we're just having fun right now. And that's pretty much it. You know, we're just having a good time and we just love playing with each other. And for everybody that comes to the shows, we really appreciate you and everybody listening.
We really appreciate you and love you. And it's all for you at the end. It was for me, but now it's become a thing. And that's for you now. So I love you guys.
