I had a chance to chat with the Long Island duo of Hope Vista and Greg Almeida, better known as VISTA, about their recently completed Long Live Tour, their recent EP release, Long Live, and their upcoming second tour leg, The Oasis Tour. It is always a blast getting to talk about specific tracks and how the concept of the EP came together. And now, you get know first hand!
It was a great time chatting with these two and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Let me introduce you to VISTA!
VISTA – Photo by Holly Turner
Lemonade Magazine: Thanks for taking the time do this interview. We really appreciate it. So tell us how you two met?
Hope Vista: Thank you for taking the time to interview us! We actually just met on Facebook. I was looking for a new guitarist for VISTA a little over a year ago. It was a crazy search, and Greg just hit me up in a message asking for more details!
Greg Almeida: Yeah, it was kind of like something that I made a decision about. Me and Hope met and bonded over our want to take this thing super seriously. We want to do music for the rest of our lives.
LM: Gotta love when the Facebook posts align! Your new EP, Long Live, is a crazy balance between rocking tracks and some ballads. How did you realize and develop thematic concept for EP?
Greg: It was pretty much just inspired by the lives we live, in this fucked up, instant, social media type world. The whirlwind of politics that surrounds us, all this crazy negative shit going on. Amidst our own inner demons. It’s a weird balance to fight all that shit off.
Hope: Yeah, “Henchmen” started it all, and then from that song, we realized we could work that theme into a concept album. And we just took that and ran with it!
LM: Well, it turned out fantastic. One of my favorite songs on the EP is the re-imagined “Dominance 2.0”. What convinced you to add the song?
Hope: Hahahaha! I forced Greg to add the song. He really didn’t want to, and I totally understand why. Recycling material is sometimes a really difficult feat, and it comes with boundaries, because you don’t want to step on anyone’s toes. I thought it would be a good idea though. It matched with the branding, it tied together old and new, and it was one of the most well-received songs in our live set. So it took a lot of tooth and nail, but eventually I think Greg just didn’t want to hear about it anymore, hahahaha!
LM: Hahah! Poor Greg! I think it was a great addition though. So VISTA just finished up a tour to support the latest release, Long Live. How was the first leg of the tour?
Greg: It was fun. We went out and did the dang thing. I’m so happy that we did, and I can’t wait to go out again. I want to explore the world.
Hope: It was killer! We had a really great time! I think we went into it kind of expecting the worst, so we didn’t get our hopes up. But some of these cities, man, were just a whole different level. We really loved being down South, and we had a few days off in Nashville, so we got to explore and go cliff jumping and meet a ton of new people. It was really, really great. I can’t wait to get back down there next month.
LM: After a small break, you are going to be going back out on the road, obviously. The tour is called The Oasis. What is the meaning behind the name?
Hope: Yeah! I actually started booking The Oasis Tour while we were on Long Live. We knew we’d be back on the road in November as we were finishing up that tour. We were supposed to be back on the road in October, but the timing was just too soon. Greg’s so much better at explaining The Oasis concept than me.
Greg: We basically thought of the “Oasis” as a place where everyone can get together and feel safe, under the same guise, the same tribe. It’s kind of like being at a show in the dark. You lose yourself and go to that other place and everyone else around you has this similar mindset, in this similar little cult. No one judges each other, no one speaks on race or sexuality or political parties, or any of that other bullshit that doesn’t matter. Just straight up respect and love. We want to create that.
LM: Super cool concept! Once you are finished with The Oasis Tour, what does the future hold for VISTA in 2018?
Greg: Yeah, we’re gonna figure that all out very soon. And it’ll come at ya like BAM!
Hope: We have a bunch of ideas floating around, but we haven’t really sat down to talk about it yet, since we’ve been so busy with touring!
LM: Thanks again for chatting with us! We really appreciate it.
Hope: Thank you for supporting the band and interviewing us for your site! Drink lots of lemonade.
Greg: Thanks so much, guys! Have a good one.
VISTA will be on The Oasis Tour in November hitting up quite a few places down the east coast and midwest of the US. Here are a list of the upcoming shows:
November 1 – Arlene’s Grocery, New York, NY
November 2 – The Fire, Philadelphia, PA
November 3 – The Smiling Moose, Pittsburgh, PA
November 5 – Irving Theater, Indianapolis, IN
November 6 – Underground Lounge, Chicago, IL
November 8 – Gabe’s, Iowa City, IA
November 9 – Fubar, Saint Louis, MO
November 10 – The End, Nashville, TN
November 12 – The West End Trading Co, Sanford, FL
November 13 – Smith’s Olde Bar, Atlanta, GA
November 15 – Amityville Music Hall, Amityville, NY
November 16 – Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
Reserve your tickets on VISTA‘s website: HERE. And do not forget to pick up their new EP, Long Live, on iTunes now and stream it on Spotify below!
The post VISTA: Long Live And The Oasis Concepts appeared first on Lemonade Magazine.