The Artist: The Violet Nines – "Who else"

The Violet Nines

The Violet Nines are a vibrant outfit from Minneapolis, MN USA with a style of music coined „Groove Pop“; alternative groove-centric pop fused with funk, rock and R&B.

A couple years ago, we were in a band and the lead singer at the time had to skip a show only a few days ahead of time. Nick happened to meet Hayley’s father who had mentioned Hayley moving back to Minnesota after college just that week. Serendipitously, when Nick asked Hayley to fill in with only a few days notice, the band performed their best show yet. With Hayley, the whole thing elevated to a whole new level. Thus became The Violet Nines.

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Who else

Fast schon jazzig angehaucht startet der neueste Track von The Violet Nines um dann doch noch Richtung Detroit abzubiegen um dort kurz bei Jack White vorbeizuschauen. Der gesamte Song besitzt diesen gewissen Charme, das gewisse Etwas, hat Flair und lässt sich nur schwer zuordnen bzw. einordnen, was schon mal ein gutes Zeichen darstellt. Würde man es mathematisch betrachten wäre es die Schnittmenge aus Alternative Rock und Motown. Äußerst gelungen die Soundselektion die immer wieder zu überraschen weiß, unermüdlich und schier ohne Ende werden grandiose Klänge aus dem Hut gezaubert, während der Bass und die Drums ordentlich grooven. Auf der einen Seite die druckvollen Drums die das gute Stück in Zaum halten, auf der anderen, der Bass der unglaubliche Lines spielt und sich doch dezent im Hintergrund hält. Die Krönung gibt’s dann noch in Form der Vocals, leicht swingend-jazzig, sogar verspielt, dann wieder straight forward und konzentriert, katapultieren sie den Track dann endgültig auf den Olymp. So we have to say Achtung: The Violet Nines, who else …

The Interview

Who inspired you to make music?

We all have this calling. A deep-seeded belief that we need to create music. That is our self-actualization. And what’s so cool about it is we’re all from such diverse backgrounds yet we always share music together.

What or who inspired you to „Who else“?

Like so many love songs, there was a muse! lol
Everyone has those romances that never really take off, but somehow endure so many months, years, etc. This was one of those and after a few years, it finally hit me that the best thing to do was to let this person go. And in that way, that’s the most sincere expression of love you can have for someone. To let them go removes selfishness and proves that you just want what’s best for them.

„Who else“ has some great sounds in the background, how much time do you invest to find the right ones for a song?

However long it takes! Some songs, it comes easy. Who Else was not that way. Nick had the idea for this song for a few years starting with the drum part. After key changes, instrumentation additions/subtractions, we finally landed on this vibe here. And hope you enjoy it!

Also the genre mixture sounds amazing, do you have a favorite genre?

That’s the thing about The Violet Nines, each of us have our own favorite genre! And that’s why there’s a clear mixture in our sound.
Hayley: Pop, Brit Pop
Nick: Funk, Groove Pop, Alt Rock
Osay: Ghanian & Contemporary R&B
Delon: 90s R&B
Jon: Neosoul / Drum-centric Jazz
Ben: Classical

When do you say a song is ready for a release?

It’s really tough. Sometimes you come to a clear stopping point and everything’s feeling really good. You may try to add one or two more things and you realize in doing so that adding is just subtracting (taking away from what was once good). So then you stop and it usually works out 🙂

What is your creative process like?

Due to COVID, we’ve had to do a lot of „covid collabs“. Meaning, one person starts an idea all by themselves, then ships it off to another single person and they add to it. Then it gets sent to the next person, etc. etc.
In other scenarios, we like just getting in a room and building it from the ground up collaboratively.

What is the most useful talent you have?

Useful talent? That’s a good q! Everyone brings something to the table, but I think a unique element we have is a live saxophonist (Ben Cline). Whenever we play live and during a song, something is missing.. Ben can come in with a blazing saxophone and usually knock the crowd dead 🙂

If you could change anything in the past, what would it be?

Start mixing, making our own music videos, etc. all from the beginning. Doing everything in house has opened up such creativity. It’s awesome!

How do you feel the Internet (especially Social Media platforms) has impacted the music business?

Positives and negatives. The positives are you can reach a lot more people and don’t necessarily need a label (like the ole days). The negatives are social media is designed to be a vanity fair.. we sometimes feel a little too show-off, but that’s what you need to do given the algorithms and stuff.. So it’s a constant challenge. Hopefully, we’re doing an alright job! lol

What’s next for you?

We have a new single (with a big release concert) Saturday, September 18 in Minneapolis, MN USA. We’re going to film the whole thing and release it later to YouTube for our global fans.

Photo credits:

Will Phelps on the Album Artwork,
Sara Fish on the Group Photo,
Lauren Hernandez on the Individual Shots of Nick

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