Vegas on Bass unveils Blurry Visions, a bold fusion of industrial and alternative rock. We discuss their creative journey, raw live energy, and the emotional depth behind their debut album.
1. Your debut album Blurry Visions is finally here! Can you tell us about the journey
that led to its creation and why the title represents the process so well?
Blurry Visions is the result of two years of writing, evolving,
and figuring out who we are as a band. It reflects both personal and musical
growth—moments of clarity mixed with uncertainty, which is exactly why the
title fits so well. The ‘blurred vision’ represents the transitions we’ve been
through, the struggles and changes, but also the passion that has kept us
going. It’s like looking for focus in the middle of chaos.
2. Your sound is quite
different from the mainstream music scene in Italy. How did you develop your
industrial and alternative rock influences in a country known for melodic
songwriting?
We’ve always been
drawn to a more raw and powerful sound, something that carries tension and
energy rather than just following the melodic tradition of Italian music. We
love industrial textures, the intensity of alternative rock, and the contrast
between electronic elements and organic instruments. It’s not something you
hear a lot in Italy, but that just makes us more determined to carve out our
own space.
Also, Adriano,
our singer, lived in London for ten years before returning to Italy three years
ago. That experience played a big role in shaping both our sound and
lyrics—absorbing the UK’s alternative and industrial rock scene, being
surrounded by a different approach to music and production. It made us think
beyond traditional songwriting structures and gave us a broader perspective on
the kind of music we wanted to create.
3. You’ve mentioned that
each track on the album represents a chapter of a journey. Can you give us a
deeper insight into some of the most personal or intense moments on the record?
A lot of the
songs come from real experiences—frustration, resilience, searching for
meaning. One of the most personal tracks is Meltdown,
which deals with the weight of expectations, especially those placed on me
(Adriano) from the past. It’s about feeling like you’re constantly measured by
standards that don’t align with who you are—especially from family, where
anything outside of their definition of success doesn’t seem to matter. That
pressure doesn’t just disappear; it stays with you and makes you question
yourself, even when you think you’ve moved past it.
Another theme
that runs through the album is uncertainty—not knowing if pushing forward with
this band was the right thing or if we should have stopped. That tension shows
up in different ways throughout the record, making it feel like a reflection of
all the emotions we went through while making it.
4. The recording process
sounds very dynamic, with climactic build-ups and explosive energy. How did you
and your producers, Alessandro Renzetti and Lorenzo Cosi, bring this vision to
life in the studio?
We didn’t want
the album to feel static—we wanted every track to have movement, to build up
tension and then release it. Alessandro and Lorenzo helped us push that even
further. A lot of it came down to layering—finding the right textures,
experimenting with how much distortion or electronic elements we could blend in
without losing the human feel. Sometimes the process was about adding a new
layer that unlocked something in the song; other times, it was about completely
reworking an arrangement, stripping it down, or building it up differently.
There was a lot
of iteration and critical back-and-forth. We didn’t want to settle for anything
that just sounded ‘fine’—every song had to feel right both sonically and
emotionally. That meant making tough choices, reworking parts we initially
thought were done, and really pushing each track to its limit.
5. Vegas on Bass started with a strong live presence, performing in
clubs and even on the streets. How has that raw live energy influenced the way
you approach recording music?
Playing live is
where everything started for us, and it definitely shapes how we write and
record. If a song doesn’t translate well on stage, we might not even record it.
We think a lot about how a track will hit when we play it live—how it will feel
in a room full of people. That’s why we work hard to make sure our recordings
keep that energy.
At the same time,
this album pushed us to experiment more, especially with electronic elements
and dynamics. We wanted each song to feel modern and layered without losing the
raw expression of feelings. The challenge was making everything fit naturally—sometimes
it meant adding a subtle layer to enhance a moment, while other times it meant
tearing apart and rebuilding entire sections to get the right impact.
6. In 2023, you took your
music to London for two shows. How was that experience, and did it have any
impact on the creative direction of Blurry
Visions?
London was an
eye-opener. Our genre and lyrics in English felt like they naturally belonged
there, since that’s where a lot of our influences come from in the first place.
Playing in that scene made us realize that our sound aligns more with that kind
of audience—it just fits differently compared to Italy.
We’ve also grown
a lot since those shows, both in our sound and as a band. Now that we’ve
developed Blurry Visions, we’re
excited to see what we can do next—how our music will connect now that we’ve
refined our style and built something even stronger.
7. The themes of struggle,
resilience, and clarity are central to this album. Was there a particular
moment that tested the band’s perseverance during the making of Blurry Visions?
It wasn’t just
one moment—it was the whole process. Balancing live shows, personal study, and
life outside the band was intense. There were times when it felt like too much,
but we kept pushing through because we believed in what we were making.
One of the
hardest parts was knowing when a song was ‘done.’ We went through so many
iterations, changing structures, rewriting parts, sometimes feeling like we
were losing ourselves in the process. It’s easy to get caught up in endless
tweaking, questioning if what you’re doing even makes sense anymore. And when
you’re working this closely, that leads to discussions—sometimes tough
ones—about the right path forward. But in the end, that struggle made the album
what it is.
8. Tracks like “Meltdown”
and “Fall for Nothing” suggest themes of frustration and defiance. Can you
share what inspired these songs and their lyrical direction?
These songs are
about frustration, but they’re also about not giving in to it. They’re meant to
carry some hope—or at least the energy to rage against whatever is weighing you
down.
Meltdown ties back to what we mentioned earlier—it’s a reaction to high
expectations, especially from a certain kind of upbringing where only certain
achievements ‘count.’ It’s a critique of that mindset, but also an attempt to
shake it off, to fight back instead of letting it define you.
Fall for Nothing is a broader critique of society—how easy it is
to fall into patterns that don’t reflect what you actually want. We all feel
the pressure to follow a set path, to compromise on what we want because that’s
what’s expected. But there comes a point where you either accept it or push
back against it. That’s what the song is about—acknowledging that pressure and
deciding whether or not to break free from it.
9. Your band’s lineup is
made up of close friends, and even two brothers. How does this dynamic
influence your creative process and the chemistry within the band?
We believe it’s
really hard to have a project like this without being friends. It requires so
much time and effort (and pays little money) that it’s hard to see how you
could do it without that bond. You gotta love seeing each other in the
rehearsal room or on stage. That connection is what keeps everything going.
10. What were the biggest lessons from Circle
that you carried into making Blurry
Visions?
We learned what
producing a song really means—how to integrate electronic elements, the
challenges of recording, and the patience it requires. It taught us how to
build songs in a way that feels intentional and complete.
11. What’s next for Vegas on Bass?
We want to write
new songs, experiment, get better, and play more shows around Europe… Stay
tuned!!
12. What’s the one thing you
hope listeners take away from your music?
That it makes
them feel something—energy, emotion,
release… and that they’ll dance to some of them!
Vegas On Bass (@vegasonbass) • Instagram photos and videos
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