1. What or Who inspired you to start playing the acoustic guitar?

My first guitar was a gift from my husband in 98, I played it once in a while, just picked at it, really, but I always had a guitarist play with me. I wanted to learn how to play, but knew I didn’t have the time or patience for lessons, and didn’t think I could teach myself, so for about a year it sat in the closet most of the time. The first guitarist I met who really, really made me want to learn how to play was Kym Tuvim. The second guitarist who blew my mind was Peter Mulvey...they both still completely inspire and awe me.

2. How did you learn to play the guitar?

I started getting airplay for my first record, “Three Chord Plea” on the east coast. I decided to book my first tour in New York City, Boston, etc in summer 99, as part of the very first “Indiegrrl Tour”. I asked my friend, Ray, who co wrote many of the songs on that record to travel with me and play guitar, and he agreed. We were meeting at a festival in upstate New York...but I couldn’t find Ray anywhere. I did a couple of songs and begged off stage, and tried to figure out what I was going to do...Ray had injured himself and couldn’t perform, so he made his way back to Virginia. I met up with him there, and he handed me one of his guitars and said “you know, most of your songs are three chords...you might as well learn how to play them.” I learned three chords in three days and finished the 3 week tour by myself.

3. How long have you been singing for and have you received any training?

I’ve been singing forever...since I was about three, actually. I did have some classical training in high school and college, which were critical in learning how to breathe appropriately while singing, and honed my performance skills. Other than that, lots of really late nights and really bad karaoke.

4. How do you prepare your voice before a show and what drinks or food do you avoid?

I don’t really do anything...I probably should. I do try to avoid consuming mass amounts of coffee right before a show...not the easiest thing to do when playing a killer coffee house though.

5. Describe the feel of your new CD entitled, “How It Is” and how you were sparked to write the songs on it.

“How It Is” is actually a theme record, but to date, no one has gotten what the theme is. There are instrumental string pieces on the record that should give away what the theme is, too... I am beginning to think that its a little more obtuse than I originally thought, to me its completely transparent. So, not to give anything away, but the title track is about having a crush on someone and being “spoken for”.

6. You have released 4 CD’s to date. Which CD has brought you the most success?

“Dream in Red” has sold the most copies, I think because it was featured on “All Things Considered” a couple of weeks before its street date, and because its been out longer. “How It Is” is newer, but has sold more copies in the time its been out than “Dream in Red” had sold at two years old. “Live in New York City”
was put out mainly for fans as incentive to pre order the new record we are currently making, but it became pretty popular so I made a few more and put them up on CD Baby.

7. Which CD’s have been recorded and released on Cake Records?

“How It Is” is the only record released on Cake so far.

8. What is your main acoustic guitar and amplifier?

I play a Larrivee acoustic, and a Jay Turser electric Jazz (but I play it like an acoustic)

9. What PA system, monitors, and microphones do you prefer to use live and in the studio?

I try not to play anywhere that I have to do my own sound, because I suck at it. ( I know, sorry, its very stereotypical “girl”, but in this case...its just true.) I love my Audix OM5 microphone for live performance!

10. You are the founder of Indiegrrl (a 1500 member international organization for women in the independent music industry). Where did the idea to start Indiegrrl come from?

In 98, I was on a list for indie musicians, male and female. Some of the men were being gross, and I called them on their BS. They said, “If you don’t like it, go start your own *%%@@##@ list. “ So, I did. It began as ten or so women complaining about being a woman in the indie music industry, and grew into what it is today, with lots of little bumps and big successes along the way.

11. Briefly describe the benefits of becoming an indiegrrl member.

Well, its FREE for starters and its wicked easy. The mailing list is free for everyone, and its an indispensable networking tool for anyone who wants to meet other women who know exactly what you are talking about, feeling, experiencing, or will experience as an indie musician...not just a women, but as a musician, period. To become a performing member is a little more difficult, and is reserved for those who really have their act together.

12. At what point in your life did you make the decision to persevere as an indie musician and why?

I haven’t actually made that decision yet. This thing picked me, I didn’t pick it.

13. Will you be releasing a video or DVD?

Nah. Videos are for pop stars.

For more info on Holly Figueroa visit www.hollyfigueroa.com or see the female alternative category in the database.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"There is nothing stable in this world: uproar's your only music".

John Keats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Music should not decorate, it should be truthful".

Arnold Schoenberg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I would rather write 10,000 notes than one letter of the alphabet".

Ludwig Van Beethoven

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Let but thy voice engender with the string And angels will be born, while thou doest sing".

Robert Herrick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

".....music oft hath such a charm To make bad good, and good provoke to harm".

William Shakespheare

 

 

 

1. Describe the early years of your musical roots and how your  talent was nurtured.

I am from Nassau, Bahamas and come from a family with a rich musical background, so music has been a part of my life all of my life. My mother is a pianist, organist, and violinist, and all of her siblings play musical instruments as well. At a very young age myself, brother, sister, and my cousins were all expected to take up some sort of instrument to play. I first started singing in my grandfather’s youth church choir in the Bahamas, then at eight I started taking piano lessons. This lasted for a few years, and was where I got my basic understanding of sight-reading, harmony, and musical terms related to performing. Later on I took up flute for awhile, but it was clearly not my instrument, but my family was very classically influenced so that fit into what they saw as an appropriate instrument to play, I did not want to play violin. At age nine a friend of mine who lived close to me had a guitar, and I became instantly fascinated with it, and I would try to go over to his house as often as I could just to play his guitar. We would just fool around for hours trying to figure out songs, and since I already had a pretty good basic understanding of music it helped. I think I was about ten when I finally got my parents to break down and get me a guitar, but it really was not a real one, but I could tune it, and it would play so that was ok, I could figure out songs and practice. I would get popular song books and learn the chords, and I could read so I would play the melodies. Finally at fourteen I got a real guitar and amp, a wah-wah pedal, and fuzztone. By this time I was in Junior High, so there where other guys who had guitars, and we would get together after school to practice, and teach each other songs. This led me to playing in my first band, I remember that we practiced all summer everyday, and by the time that school got back in we were playing at the school dances, and playing casuals on the weekends too. At that time I was living in Hawaii so the culture and the musical influences were very diverse, we played everything that was popular on the radio, and we learned Hawaiian music too because sometimes we had to play as few songs at the casuals. I was influenced by all sorts of music growing up, Calypso, Soca, Reggae, Rock, R&B, Jazz, Top 40, Country, I heard it all, and I liked the way that guitars sounded in all of these different genres of music. 

2.  Where there any events, people or catalyst(s) that were  influential? 

Well as I mentioned before, my mother, and all of her siblings played instruments so they were my first influences, but then I really liked the Beatles a lot and listened to everything that they had out at the time. I saw all of their movies, watched their cartoons, so as far as being influenced by a band or group they were definitely the first for me. Later on I was turned on to Jimi Hendrix, and that was just it for me, not only for the totally different music he was playing, but his dress, attitude, and total persona. There were no other musicians at the time like him, not to mention that there were no other black musicians like him! I had somebody as a young black kid that I could relate too. Later on I heard Carlos Santana who’s music I just love because of all the different influences that make up his music, and Carlos has one of the most unique voices on the instrument ever in the history of guitar. After that just so many people George Benson, Herbie Hancock, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Jeff Beck, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, B.B. King, Albert Collins, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Eddie Van Halen, Neal Schon, Steve Vai, Greg Howe, Steve Morse, and so many others. I have listened and taken elements of all of their playing, and assimilated it into my own style. 

3.  What does your live set up consist of? 

I have different set ups for different applications, but for most of the things that I am doing now, which are festivals, clubs, and House of Blues size venues my set up is a pair of Meteoro V8 amps ran in stereo. These are Brazilian handmade class A amplifiers that are rated at 25 watts, but they clearly sound like 40. These are some of the most musical amplifiers I have ever played, their warmth and clarity is unbelievable. Andreas Kisser from Sepultura also uses Meteoro amps. I have several different pedal boards, but my favorite is the one with my Morely Bad Horsie, Boss Volume, Meteoro Doctor Drive, Ibanez TS9, Digitech Whammy 4, Digitech DF-7, Xotic AC Booster, Boss Harmonizer, Boss DD3, Boss CE-3, and Aphex Exciter. I use my signature guitars that are handmade for me by Tagima Guitars of Brazil. My model is called the VN-1, but sometimes I also use one of their guitars called the Zero, and my Tagima 735(strat), that was assembled for me by he craftsmen at Tagima from different parts they had at their factory that I picked out. I also have a signature nylon string model that looks like my electric signatures that I use live, and to record with. 

4.  Your bio mentions that you were in the company of the late Jaco Pastorious, Pat Metheny and  "Narada" Michael Walden, how have these players influenced your musical growth? 

I think that their influences came to me later on in my musical career, after we were out of school. Pat is a great composer, Jaco was just an amazing musician what else can be said about him that has not already been stated. I remember that he use to practice all the time. Michael has become one of the most noted producers, musicians in contemporary music, so I can always go back to their respective bodies of work and learn a lot, and I have been listening for a long time! 

5.  When did you start your own record label, Boosweet Records and how many CD’s have you  recorded and released on it? 

I was in partnership in a label before Boosweet which started back in 1992, but I formed Boosweet Records in 1999. I have 4 releases of my own that I have released, but we represent a lot of other music as well. One of the releases that I am most proud of is the “United By Tone” project that I did in conjunction with my pickup sponsor Seymour Duncan. 

6.  What was it like to work with Motown hit producer "Norman Whitfield and what recordings  did you work on together? 

It was quite an experience as you can imagine, I was 21 at the time, and surrounded by all of these incredibly talented young musicians, singers, writer’s. This is were I cut my production teeth, and who better to do it with than a multiple Grammy Award winning writer, producer. There were groups there at that time like the legendary sax player “Junior Walker” who I co-produced and wrote for, “Willie Hutch” who wrote and produced the soundtrack for the movie “The Mack”. The multi-platinum selling group “Rose Royce”, “Undisputed Truth”, “Stargard”. I remember learning how to operate a Neve console, and Amek recorder, wow those were some great days, I owe Norman a lot for letting a young kid come in to hang, and learn.  

7.   Recently you produced and mastered the 18 artist compilation disc "United By Tone"  with  Seymour Duncan.  Where did the inspiration to produce this compilation blossom from? 

I remember thinking to myself one day that Seymour Duncan has some of the best guitar players in the world on their endorsement roster, and what a great idea it would be to try and get some on one project. So I pitched the idea to Evan Skopp, an incredible marketing mind, and pretty darn good guitar player too, who is VP of marketing and sales at Duncan, and he loved the idea. So he got Kellie Stoelting head of A&R at Duncan involved, and we proceeded to map out the best ideas to make the project a good one. It was just one of those things that made perfect sense to me, and Evan and Kellie, and the rest of the family at Seymour Duncan agreed, including Seymour. We made history with that release, it’s a collectors item, if you can find one and get Seymour to sign it, you will have something that will be worth a lot of money one day ! 

8.  How did you find and determine who would be featured on “United By Tone”? 

This is something that Kellie and Evan determined, of course they consulted with me about what I thought, but I thought that the choices they made were perfect, because their choices were diverse, and represented a good cross section of the talent pool that they have at Seymour Duncan. Where are you going to hear Seymour Duncan, Slash, Jennifer Batten, Jerry Horton, Bill Frisell, Jimmy Bruno, Vernon Neilly, Gary Hoey, Alain Caron, Alien Ant Farm, on one CD. 

9.  What was it like to recently win your Second Consecutive Smooth Jazz Award? 

Well it’s an honor of course, but one that I must share with my staff at Boosweet Records. Rosalie Mayers, Pierre Neilly, Tija Carlos, Vernon Neilly II, the other participants, Mark Whitfield, Kevin Chokan, Miguel Mega, Juan Nelson, who were also instrumental in making it happen with their talented contributions, and team effort. Ultimately though I have to thank the many people who bought the project world wide, who like the music of “Vernon Neilly & G-Fire”.  

10.  How many songs are on your latest CD "G-Fire II" and what is the feel of this CD? 

There are actually 12 songs, but 2 of the 12 have edits for radio. I hate classifications because music is just music to me regardless of genre, but I have heard people describe it as jazz fusion, smooth jazz, world music, pop jazz, jazz funk, so you listen and tell me. I don’t think about that when I am writing music, I just write, and then record, and hope that someone will enjoy the work! 

11.  Who was involved in the making of "G-Fire II" and where was it mixed and mastered? 

Since “G-Fire II” is a compilation of sorts, Mark Whitfield did his recording and mixing in New Jersey, I did mine in my studio in Rialto, Calif., Kevin Chokan did his in his studio in Los Angeles, Ca., and Miguel did his track in Santos, Brazil. All of the final mixes were sent to me, and all of the post-production editing, and all the mastering was done in my studio Boosweet Sound.

12.  What has been the highs of your musical career so far? 

Working with all of the very talented, and legendary artists that I have been so blessed to work with, and learn from. Then being fortunate enough to have been successful in establishing my own career 

13.  Have you released any videos, dvds or made any television appearances? 

I am in the process of finishing up my first DVD now which is called “Live In Brazil”. This is footage from a concert, TV show, and interview that was done while on tour in Brazil a couple of years ago. I am very excited to be getting this out on the market soon! I also have another one in the works from some live footage that was shot at the famous Hollywood Bar and Grill. I have done several TV appearances before, performing but also in TV shows. You can see me playing my guitar in the very popular movie “Along Came Polly”, and the comedy movie “Starsky and Hutch”. 

14.  What venue have you played that you enjoyed the most? 

There have been so many over the years, but I think “Sousa Lima Conservatory Of Music” in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This is because guys like Steve Morse, Frank Gambale, Paul Gilbert, had played there, but I was the first black American guitarist to ever perform there, that was very special to me! 

15.  Are you performing at any festivals this summer?

I am actually performing some warm up club dates in California during the summer, getting ready to go back and tour Brazil, and play at Expo Music, the largest music trade show in South America. It is held in Sao Paulo Brazil.

For more info on Vernon Neilly visit www.vernonneilly.com

or see the male jazz category of the database.

 

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