Jonas Nicholson, of SAMMY Award Winning Vaporeyes, released his first solo album. It was created during quarantine. He and his bandmates have used their time to complete Vaporeyes’ second album Cantrips. The band, Jonas Nicholson, Sean Cadley, Shannon Zory and Pat Tierney, all moved in together and much music was made. Pat Tierney, aka Pat Tato, also released a solo EP during this time. Sean Cadley quietly released his own too. The bandmates put on weekly live streams and used their in home studio to get it all accomplished. “I was always a hip hop fan. I laid down some lyrical stuff over ish beats. I was at home with a studio. It kinda fell out of me. It felt right and less vague. It’s much more intense and direct,” Nicholson said of his solo endeavor, Evil Key SAVE FACE/ESCAPE FATE . The album is split into different sides. The first half is SAVE FACE, reacting to any hardship. “I’m clever I’m a rapper now.” Double Exposure is a bridge. The second half is ESCAPE FATE. Nothing matters; let it go. “It’s two months of words. It was mixed at home. I made the beats. I’d get up and start the beat sequence or pads. If I was inspired I’d see how it felt then write to the music. I’d spend the whole day and have a song at the end.” The EP was mastered by Phil Way at Sons of Apollo Studio. It is available at Sound Garden and on all streaming platforms.
“The last song actually has a pretty good summary of the albums concept. These are actually the last words on the album,” he shared.
“In the wake of adversity, we try to save face.
Until the ploy is up, we even try to escape.
It only matters because we are nothing.
Stardust. Neurons. Breath. In, and out.”
The new Vaporeyes album, Cantrips, has been sent out for mastering with Jocko at More Sound Recording Studios. The album art was created by Patrick Ennis from Canada. He also did the self titled album art. “The first album prepares you then this one is different. It gets weird with harmonies and screaming. Cantrips is an old word for spell and is a reference to Dungeons and Dragons. It’s another facing reality thing. It’s about running away and denying it then just having fun with it. It’s heavy, spacey and gets dancey,” Nicholson explained.
The band funded Cantrips with a Kickstarter Fundraiser. They are busy fulfilling private concerts to donors. As for an album release show Nicholson said maybe they will stream from home and do something after the fact given COVID-19 limitations. Another cool option donors had was to send the band some notes or a vibe to record a personalized song to. Some local musicians gave the band this challenge. “Ian Dougherty and I met on a video game forum so his song is in the style of the composer of Silent Hill with no lyrics. Chris Ames will get a classic rock song in A major with some interesting lyrics.” They met the Kickstarter goal at the last minute and even got a little extra so they spent extra time in the studio.
On top of all that, Nicholson has started another EP already.
Evil Key YouTube videos and playlist
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