In 1999 Kenny Vasoli launched his music career with The Starting Line, a gig that took him to venues all across the globe. Then in 2011 he took a new music direction by launching a new band that would focus on becoming the “foremost relaxation specialists” in the music industry.
As you know we’re huge fans of Vacationer (check out our pictures from the Lackawanna Music Festival in Hoboken, NJ) and we were lucky enough to interview Kenny about their new partnership with brands Lomography and Quiksilver, coming together to launch a photography competition with winners receiving mega prize-packs for music, cameras, and backpack merch.
BTW, this title is a little misleading. We don’t have a chili cookoff in the works but now that Vacationer said they would consider accepting the invite we might need to put one together.
1) How has the writing and recording processed differed between The Starting line and Vacationer?
Vacationer has been a collaborative effort in the writing between myself, Grant Wheeler and Matt Young. Most of the time they’ll send me loops to work off of and rearrange and I’ll construct guitar and bass parts as well as top-line vocals. With Starting Line, we did collaborate but most of the time I would be the one to get the ball rolling with the initial idea. Another difference is the production process; Matt and Grant produce and engineer everything, so more times than not we skip demoing the songs and our first loops are built into the finished version.
2) If you could pack any venue on Earth with Vacationer fans which venue would you play?
The Gorge in Washington would be a dream.
3) How did this partnership with Lomography and Quiksilver and come about?
We became acquainted with Lomography during this year’s SXSW. They set us up with some cameras to capture life on the road and then they donated some of their 35mm cameras for us to shoot our video for “Trip” in Hawaii.
4) Will you be playing any of the winter music festivals?
For now, we’re only slotted for a performance at Iceland Airwaves. We couldn’t be more excited for that!
5) We have a pretty incredible roof top at the RSVLTS.com headquarters. Would you consider doing an acoustic show for music editors and influencers at our 1st annual Chili Cookoff?
If it works out with our schedule we’d be down. Rooftops are chill.
6) How has the promotional process changed from when you began The Starting Line to now with Vacationer. What are the advantages of digital, challenges you face, different strategies.
I was never too hands on with the promotion that went into TSL. Today the landscape is such that I have an easy time connecting with people who are interested in us. I’m often posting on our tumblr and instagram. There’s a new familiarity that people can have with us now considering all the new outlets.
