Irish four-piece Vinci have released their new single, Secret Lovers. We asked band member Kurtis Wade Murphy the BIG questions...
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The Dublin-based rockers, consisting of lead singer and guitarist Murphy, bassist Noely Musgrave, guitarist Andy Lestrange and drummer Leo Cassandro, have been together since 2016.
The band played a coveted spot at the Oscar Wilde Awards in 2019, which gained them newfound recognition in the industry. The pandemic got in the way of plans to fly back to Los Angeles to showcase for labels in 2020. Once they realised they would be stuck inside much longer than anticipated, Murphy used the money put aside for that trip to build a home studio and learn to engineer.
Secret Lovers is their first single written, recorded, produced and mixed completely independently.
Tell us three things about yourself?
To make it interesting I'll try to think of a couple things I probably haven’t ever mentioned before. I was born in Cork. You wouldn’t be able to tell from my accent but I have a close affinity to the city, even though my parents are from Dublin and we moved back when I was two.
My first love was football and I was scouted by Man City, Man Utd, Leicester and Aston Villa before taking a scholarship to the US. I once spent three days stuck at an airport in the US, before taking a bus filled with recently released prisoners for six hours back to where I was, and convinced one of them I was a kicker for Vanderbilt University so he would be friendly with me. It worked. He’s now the drummer for the band. (he’s not, sorry, Leo).
How would you describe your music?
This is always a tough one because it’s always evolving, but I would say a fixture of our songs is hidden in our name. Our music deals with triumph over everything. Triumph over love, loss, fear, doubt, anxiety and insecurity. We want our music to inspire fans to triumph over whatever battle they are fighting with themselves.
Who are your musical inspirations?
For me it started through my Dad with Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Then it was Michael Jackson and U2. When I learned guitar it was Damien Rice and The Frames, and now it’s bits and pieces of everyone, from the pop hooks of OneRepublic, to the soundscapes of Bon Iver, the live energy of Mumford & Sons and Coldplay, and the lyrics of all my poetic heroes.
What was the first gig you ever went to and the first record you ever bought/downloaded?
The first gig I remember being old enough to buy my own ticket and go on my own was The Frames. I had just started learning guitar and stood about one foot away from Glen Hansard in awe, with no idea I’d sell out the same room a few years later with my mates. I think first record I bought was O by Damien Rice. I’ve bought a lot, and I think I bought a few at the same time, but I remember listening to that every day for years.
What’s your favourite song right now?
My favourite song is often the latest one I’ve written because it says what I feel, and that’s why any of us connect to music I think. But that’s a terrible answer, so today it’s Iron Sky by Paulo Nutini. Which is also way better than the latest song I’ve written.
Favourite lyric of all time?
My favourite lyric is not the best lyric of all time (we’d be here all day), and I’m not even sure the person who wrote it, Glen Hansard, would appreciate that this is it, but there’s a song by The Frames called Fake, and when I was young and first discovering love and the heartbreak that goes along with it, the line "He’s left you in the rain again, and you were always on my mind.." spoke so directly to me for some reason, it stirred something in me to want to write lyrics that made other people feel like that one did for me.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life what would it be?
Smile by Charlie Chaplin or My Girl by The Temptations. I think either one is as close as humans have gotten to a perfect song. You can listen to either in almost any emotional state and it’ll help.
Where can people find your music/more information?
If you follow us on Spotify, you can get all of our new music and follow us on Instagram for day to day shenanigans. In real life though, you can meet us at The Workman’s Club, November 20.
