Bio: My name is Gaby Vidal, I am from Guaynabo Puerto Rico. I’ve been playing in bands since 1989, when I started playing in a cover band doing mostly Rush songs. Currently I play guitar with Bando, Similar & ONGO. All of them are indie bands. I like and play many styles of music, but my favourite is prog rock. I am also the owner of Ongolandia Studio, were I produce & record many bands from the local scene.
Vy is my solo project, so there’s no steady band. I chose the musicians for each song depending on what the song needed. I also experimented with mixing musicians from different genres. Luckily I knew them all personally, from either bands that I’ve played or play with and bands that I’ve recorded and/or produced, so it all went pretty smooth.
Genre: I don’t think I chose to play prog, since I started playing guitar every time I work on some new idea it came out in odd meters. At that time I didn’t know any music theory, so it wasn’t until I worked the ideas with other musicians that we would notice that there was something “wrong” with my riffs. Then I learned that there was a genre that was filled with bands playing in “wrong” riffs. So I guess prog rock chose me.
Evolution of initial musical and thematic elements: I have a process were when an idea comes while I’m practicing I don’t record it right away. If the next day I remember it, then I record it on the phone, iPad or whatever. Then I start to really work on it. After I have the song ready, I program a click track and record a scratch guitar to send to the drummer. When the drums are recorded, I then figure out who would fit in the song and send it to them. Obviously, all of the guest have the liberty to add their ideas to the song.
Ideas about the album: The album came out pretty good, and yes, I am very happy with it. The most difficult part was making all the different styles flow in a way that the album “made sense” and did not sound like a compilation album. I think we got it right. But I think everything, from my playing to the way a recorded & produced the album can improve. So that makes me want to work harder on the next one.
Reception: Judging from the comments on the internet, pretty well. So far no negative reviews.
Preference; live or studio: I like both the same, but for Vy, the studio. I can do anything I want without having to think how to do it live. So if I want to have 5 drummers in one song, like in Un Paseo, I’m going for it.
Next step; live: No. This is a recording project only. There are many songs that would be very difficult to re-create live. But if a good opportunity came along, who knows.
Future plans: I am already working on album 2 and it’s sounding pretty good.
Lyrics, themes and concepts: The only lyrics I did on the album were for Sueños, and it was about suicide.
But it was just an experiment on how to do a song with beautiful words say something negative. The rest of the lyrics were done by the singer. I just told them that if it was going to be about love, it better be amazing.
Composers: I did all the music, whoever I invite to sing does the lyrics.
Inspirations: King Crimson, Yes, Tool, Steven Wilson, Pink Floyd, etc…
Preference; cater to the audience or music for its own sake: I make music for myself. If people like it, that’s better. In my opinion, it is kind of sad when people make music that they think people will buy and not because it’s the music that they enjoy.
Greatest Accomplishment: That I’ve made a couple of albums that I can sit back, put some headphones and enjoy the ride.
You can listen to the album here, for free! Like it? Buy it here! You can read more about Gaby and Vy on Facebook and Gaby’s Twitter…
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