Twenty-two year old Boston native Vinny Dee is a folk artist. Music has been around for him since the age of 10 and his name is one that many San Diego residents recognize. Vinny Dee released his first E.P under his band name Friends of Fortune and is expecting to drop a compilation of songs early February. His music can be described as acoustic songs filled with both real world pain and descriptive emotions. His goal is to write songs about topics that most people are unable to talk about regularly with hope of providing a voice for those who suffer from any emotional distress.
This song really does evoke emotion! It’s one of those songs that if you close your eyes you can see the story being played out. A story being told by campfire; a story full of thoughts and real emotion. There is a feeling of home within the melody of this song. Guitar strings and harmonic lyrics are all this single needs and that alone says a lot. About midway through there’s some horns that become more prominent. And they are treated almost like the choir in this song. Such a warm and open hearted song.
Listen to "Forbidden Love" here, and learn more about Vinny Dee in our interview below
Hey Vinny! Can you introduce yourself to our readers!
Hello peeps! My Name is Vincent but I go by Vinny Dee! I am a folk artist and singersongwriter from Massachusetts. I drove here on my own about 2 years ago for a new life and have been making music since then. I'm a 22 year old dude who likes cats and eggnog and write a lot of my songs based off of emotions that people usually dont want to talk about. I've written a lot of songs but have only published 3 so far but plan on releasing a 5/6 song E.P in 2019.
How did you know music would be your passion?
I used to play trumpet and I would participate in every single music related activity I could. Jazz band. Concert band. I was even the drum major for my high school. It has always been a part of my life but it took me going through some real dark times to find out that I love performing and love sharing emotions with people.
What emotions are the easiest for you to sing and write about? Why?
Depression and anxiety are the easiest. I know a lot of artists especially these days talk about it and a lot of people are in a bad situation where they deal with it but it is so easy for me to write a song about the hardship I've gone through and the fear and demons that haunt me as opposed to a song about happiness. Literally today I was writing a song about looking forward to the future and though it was kind of genuine, it wasnt real and it sounded cliche because I'm not used to that. I'm not used to looking forward to a future. I've written songs that talk about how I have trust issues with every human being on this planet. I've written songs that "dance" around the idea of self harm and I've written songs that dive into the depths of my mind and the thing about those is that everytime I perform them I have someone come up, practically in tears, saying that they connected. That's what I want out of all of this I want to share my emotions in hopes that people with the same emotions can speak up and we can discuss it. I want to be able to talk about depression. I want to be able to talk about being too anxious to want to do literally anything. I want to talk about heartbreak. And that being said "Forbidden Love" was directed towards music. Yes its Romeo and Juliet based but when I wrote it I was thinking about music. 4/5 years ago I tried making music my life and my parents/society said no. Now I'm on my own and I'm trying to make music my life and I'm begging for it to say "yes". I'm begging for music to make it's way back into my life. I want music to come home to me and I want music to run away with me to various places (tour) and I want it to be the adventure that fulfils my heart. I talk a lot when it comes to music so I apologize!
Can you tell us more about Forbidden Love?
"Forbidden love" is the idea of dealing with a love that you can't have. Originally the song was about being away from your lover for whatever reason. Almost immediately though I started thinking about Romeo and Juliet and I thought about how it literally took death to allow them to be together. So I wanted to build upon that because I thought that was something very sacred. Very special. And since it's such a sacred thing, I wanted to focus on making the song as stripped back yet fulfilling as possible. It only has guitar, organ, harmonies, and trumpet but yet it is still able to capture this pure moment. The constant bass drum in the back represents the heartbeat that drives lovers together and since I'm sick of writing depressing ass songs I wanted it to be a love song not a "We can't love each other so let's kill ourselves" song.
Did you face any challenges in the creation process of the song? How did you overcome them?
My biggest challenge was making it too cliche. A love song revolving around romeo and Juliet? Cmon that's cliche. Coming up with lyrics that were more specific than "I Love You" but weren't corny or a rip off of Shakespeare was tough. It took a lot of trial and error. I probably wrote 2-3 other verses for this song and asked people what they thought before deciding that 2 verses, specifically these 2, was all that it needed.
What message do you hope for people to take from the single?
Everyone has a little bit of blue in them. Some more than others. And love is a mix of a fiery passionate red that seems to burn through whatever barriers life throws at us and a weird dark blue that engulfs us and makes us go crazy. I guess you could say love is purple...but that's kind of a reach and a half soooo I'm gonna avoid that. But back to the point love also has its negatives too. It doesnt have to be heartbreak it can be insecurity, infidelity, lack of communication, or inability to be with the person you yearn for. So we have to respect love for what it is and treasure it because sometimes people arent as fortunate like you and/or I to just fall in love and be with that person. This song should also help us realize that if you love someone then you gotta go out and get them!! Go out and slay their parents and swoop in on the white horse and take love by the hand and ride off with in in a fiery sunset. If the main character was willing to propose at a young age and then deal with the heartache of being rejected by the lovers parents for 4 years only to decide to try and get the love of their life again then what's stopping us from finding our love? It doesnt have to be romantic love too it can be everything and anything. Just go out and get it.
What's next for you through 2019?
I'm working on some full band songs with covers and originals and I plan on finishing up my 5/6 song E.P that talks about different aspects of Love. Ideally that should be done before the summertime.
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