Vianova

Hipsters are the worst. But the generation that knows everything before everyone else can sometimes be beneficial. Cue Vianova. Vianova has the potential to be that band that you can brag to your future annoyed friends while sipping PBR in your flannel from the thrift store. So, pay close attention.

This new local group, made up of guitarist Eric Morgan and bassist Diego Villasmil, is not the kind of band to prance around your local bar playing music to an audience consisting of only former jilted lovers and jaded sixth-year burnouts. Vianova is a studio band, but this studio band has a plan. Sipping on adult beverages in Mac’s Café, one of my favorite bars in the Short North, Morgan and Villasmil revealed their plan.

Their plan, though different than any band that I have interviewed, is concise and well thought-out. The idea of playing to only friends who only care about free cover and potential bang-pieces are not in Vianova’s formula. Vianova wants to make it big before stepping a foot on stage.

Using what I recently coined the “just-the-tip method,” the band wants to slowly release music to titillate and tease in the second-best way possible.

“That kind of fits into our model that we’re going for, where we’re going to be releasing new stuff every month,” Morgan said. “That’s our goal, whether it’s a video, or a song, or a remix of a song or something—you know—constant new content all the time. We might go in the studio and record five songs and then release them slowly over the next four to five months or whatever. Whatever makes sense at the time.”

Villasmil, my latest tattoo victim, would not take his shirt off in public, although a tattoo over his heart has a fantastic story. The Venezuelan beefcake gave some insight into his colorful tattoo, inked by Columbus’ own J. Brett Prince of Short North Tattoo.

“It’s a giant ocean wave,” he said. “It just represents the ocean. I grew up in Venezuela. My family still is Venezuela.

“Since I was little, I’ve always had this connection with the ocean—the sea. My mom—she was a swimmer—she actually almost went to the Olympics to represent Venezuela back in her time. She always taught me to appreciate water and the ocean and the beach—it’s just beautiful. I still think it is. I just hope I get to live in front of a beach one day.”

“So, I moved here, to the U.S., about eight years ago. I just think that the ocean represents everything. It’s the distance that I have with my family. It’s almost like a connection at the same time that I have with them. It’s my passion. It’s where I always want to be. It’s kind of like my safe haven, I guess. So, that’s why I got a giant tattoo of a wave next to my heart.”

Every tattoo experience is different and Diego’s seven hours of relentless tatty-zapping of his only tattoo resulted in “sweating towards the end,” Villasmil said. “And I was just like, ugh—it was terrible. I went to bed, like, as soon as I got out of that. I just went to bed. I, like, knocked myself out.” - Bree Henry

Three Columbus bands will fundraise for Ohio families in need this holiday season.

Alternative rock band Vianova will headline the Music Feeds Families event, joined by the funk-inspired act Illegal Wood and semi-psychedelic, southern blues group Bow Echo. It’s slated to take place at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at Skully’s Music-Diner.

Vianova guitarist and vocalist Eric Morgan said the band wanted to give back to the community since entering the Columbus music scene last January.

Choosing to donate to the Foodbank was a decision that came naturally to Morgan, he said, as he worked with the nonprofit throughout his high school years.

“When it came to charities, this was one that stuck out to me because I had worked with them before and knew they were really great,” he said. “They’re able to take the donations that they get and really stretch them far.”

The Mid-Ohio Foodbank supports more than 20 counties in the distribution of more than 121,625 meals per day, according to the organization’s Facebook page.

“One-in-six central and eastern Ohioans struggles to put food on the table. For children, that number increases to one-in-four,” said Yolanda Owens, manager of communications and digital media for Mid-Ohio Foodbank. “When we come together around projects like Music Feeds Families, not only is it about raising funds, it is also about raising awareness of the issue of hunger in our community.”

Bow Echo lead guitarist Jay Cicola noted that the bands’ participation in the event will further that goal exactly.

“Even on the small local stages, musicians are given a platform and a captive audience,” he said. “If we can use that platform to make things better for the people in our community, it’s not a duty, it’s a privilege.”

Members of the participating bands also saw the event’s timing as an opportunity to support people in a crucial time of year.

“For the holidays, you want to be able to give your family food and comfort,” Morgan said. “It’s not that families don’t need that year-round, but I think it becomes particularly evident during the holiday season.”

Tickets are $6, and $2 from each ticket will directly go to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. After covering the venue’s cost, all profits will benefit the organization itself, Illegal Wood bassist Matt Luebbers said. - Carly Cheton

CD 102.5 Day brings major and local acts for sold-out performances

As one of three annual events presented by one of Columbus’s most well-known alternative stations, CD 102.5 Day has showcased both music legends and up-and-coming Columbus bands on the same stage in the same night. This year’s event is no different, with expansive lineups and accessible ticket costs providing listeners with an incredible start to the upcoming concert season.

After making it through a three-phase competition, local bands Personal Public and Vianova will perform in the sold out weekend event in early April, joining the ranks of renowned alternative acts such as The Kills, J Roddy Walson & The Business, Joy Formidable and Best Coast.

“We sent our track ‘Into the Night’ to CD102.5 when we heard they were accepting artists for the Local Showcase, but we had submitted our music previously without response so we didn’t know what to expect,” Eric Morgan, guitarist and vocalist of competition winner Vianova, said.

Myles Clayborne, member of fellow winning act Personal Public, noted that the group saw the competition as a chance to expand their presence in Columbus’ music scene.

“[It] was a prime opportunity to grow our fan base, as well as flesh out who we were as a band and polish up the final bits of our sound that we hadn’t gotten quite perfect yet,” he said.

After promoting the competition over the air and across social media platforms, the team at CD 102.5 narrowed down their submission pool into 10 competing bands, a figure further reduced to six acts after a stage of online voting. In the final round, the competition’s Artist Showcase at Skully’s Music Diner gave each band the chance to perform, with the audience voting on the winning two acts to receive a slot in the Side A and Side B CD 102.5 Day shows.

Vianova and Personal Public will be the opening acts in the lineup spanning back-to-back weekends on April 2 and 9 at the newly renamed Express Live! venue downtown.

Kara Jones, CD 102.5 director of marketing and promotions, noted the station strives to give fans “the most bang for their buck,” at the annual event.

“It just kind of organically comes together every year. We just try and go for a handful of up-and-comers that we don’t think people have really heard of yet, or that we think are going to be really big, and of course a handful of staple acts,” she said. “We really try to mesh the two, and make it as low cost as possible.”

With a lineup of musicians that have worked with major industry names ranging from Jack White to Vampire Weekend, the station will welcome a number of artists who are nationally–and even internationally–renowned to Columbus at a cost of $10.25 a ticket.

For Vianova’s Morgan, the opportunity to play with such alternative music veterans is “kind of surreal,” as the band had only started performing together in July of last year.

“It is going to be insane getting to hang out with everyone backstage. We’ve all been practicing breathing techniques so we don’t hyperventilate in front of the Joy Formidable or the Kills,” he said.

Clayborne, who plays bass in Personal Public, noted that the band is looking forward to kicking off such a star-studded lineup.

“Playing the LC Pavilion (Express Live!) has been our dream ever since we formed this band, so you can make sure we’re going to throw down when we get there,” he said. “We’re trying to show Columbus that our music scene is still very much alive, and this night will definitely solidify that statement.”

To learn more about CD 102.5 Day, visit the station’s website at cd1025.com/cd1025day. For those looking to secure tickets in spite of each event’s sold out status, Vianova’s Eric Morgan noted that fans can reach out to the band on Facebook, and they will “see what they can do,” to locate available tickets. - Carly Cheton