Achieving success in the music industry is not an easy thing. There’s a constant oversaturation of genres and bands, but I’d like to think the truly talented and marketable artists will rise to the top. That’s certainly the case with self-described “anthemic alternative rock” band Vista, who’s fronted by vocalist Hope Vista. She’s got a great set of pipes, and judging by their new EP On The Brink, the band is poised for greater things. Warped Tour and bigger tours in the near future? You can mark that down.
Hope recently stopped by to discuss 5 albums that have had a major impact in her life. Her picks even surprised (and impressed) me, so maybe the same will happen for you. Check out her choices below, as well as the new EP Versus (featuring “On The Brink”), below.
Before this, I’ve never actually tried to figure out what my top 5 favorite records are. It seemed like an impossible task, but while writing this, it was quick to see which loves of mine took priority. Despite my lifelong adorement of the Backstreet Boys, I chose to exclude them from this list, mainly because I’d fill out all 5 spots with their albums. So, here we go…
5. Set It Off – Duality
Most of my favorite records are from at least a decade ago, but including something recent in here was important to me because I’ve grown. The most recent album that is embedded as a favorite is “Duality.” The innovation behind these tracks, everything about how they commanded the modern-day Warped Tour sound; it all created an insane combination of songs that wasn’t anywhere near being afraid to make a statement, a big one.
4. Evanescence – Fallen
I’m bubbly, I’m outgoing, energetic; but I’ve always had darkness in me. I think I scared quite a few of my family members when this record came out and I was singing a song called “Tourniquet” constantly in the 4th grade. This was one of those albums that started to kind of form my total identity as both a person and a musician; they’ve always been one and the same. Who I am in music is exactly who I am outside of it. I was one of those kids that found my identity at a pretty young age, I knew exactly who I was just by this record and the next 3 on this list (they all came out within a year of each other). I have the utmost amount of respect for Amy Lee, to put out such a gutsy debut record as a frontwoman. Ben Moody and Co are also pretty damn ingenious; their creation of this goth, nu-metal debut in the midst of a post-bubblegum era is mind blowing.
3. Avril Lavigne – Under My Skin
I used to want to be Avril Lavigne when I was 9 or 10. I don’t know, she was just the most badass chick of the early 2000’s and I was a pretty angry kid. It seemed to make sense to me. But “Under My Skin” was a lot more than that. It was a super dark, raw, and most importantly, it gave a pretty strong voice to kids like me. My mom always thought Avril was a total brat – she was never really a huge fan of me blasting her records throughout the house at all hours. I more so saw her as a strong personality who wasn’t going to stand for nonsense – and I respected that quite a bit as a child of a rather broken home. This is what gave me a voice.
2. Less Than Jake – Anthem
I was 10 years old, roaming around FYE, trying to escape from my mom in the mall. I was trying to escape, and my escape was by running directly to music. 5th grade, running around with a band tshirt on, dirty hair, beat up shoes. I wanted to find a new CD to put in my Walkman on the bus every morning. Digging, digging; I kept digging through everything, until I found this bright orange-tinged CD that solely caught my attention because of the graphic design and packaging. Less Than Jake, a fairly new release called “Anthem.” Who the hell is Less Than Jake? It had a graphic of dynamite on the front, which I knew would probably make my mom mad, so guess who begged her to buy it? After telling her it didn’t have any curse words in the lyrics (I had zero clue, I just wanted it because it looked cool), she gave in and bought me my first Less Than Jake album. I wouldn’t have guessed, in 5th grade, that my ultimate brattiness had led me to who would become one of my most appreciated bands to this very day. Ska music, something that I didn’t listen to back then and still don’t listen to now; but damn, did this record rip my heart out and spark a new fire. Just last week, 13 years later, I accidentally broke the very same CD case, weathered and tattered. It still sits in my car right now.
1. Linkin Park – Meteora
What can I say about this record besides the fact that it completely changed my life? I don’t know if there’s anything else I can say that’s more impactful than that. There’s something so… sound about your personal favorite record. It moves you, it gives you something to ultimately believe in. I was also 10 when I discovered Linkin Park and this record, and “Numb” was the first song I learned how to play on an electric guitar. It was on the guitar I still play, too; my Fender strat. It was so vital to my being that I got the first line of that song tattooed on my shoulder. This record will always be permanent to me. At such a young age, it gave me reason to believe that being told I was weird was a good thing. The anger in Chester’s vocals, the honesty in all of the lyrics, every ounce of energy Mike Shinoda brought to the band; it all was something that a girl like me needed to find at that age. I will never forget “Meteora.”
Connect with VISTA:
Email: vistabandbooking@gmail.com
Twitter: @ThisIsVISTA
Individual Twitter Accounts: @hopevista, @wolfvista, @briankvista
Facebook: www.facebook.com/VISTAband
Instagram: @VISTAband
Snapchat: @VISTAband
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