We sat down with musician VRG to talk about his latest release ‘Afraid To Love’, which releases February 12th, and his process on creating the music we grow with.
John White | What inspired you to make this song?
VRG | ‘Afraid To Love’ was inspired by me trying to get out of feeling stuck. I had just finished vibing in the studio with this chick I was hanging with and I remember feeling as if I couldn’t get out of my own head. I was inspired by the conversation she and I had about love and spirituality and I remember thinking about how good it felt to just chill and vibe with someone like her, and wondering if I was still going through my own issues that usually get in the way of me opening up more.
John White | So it’s about your past experiences coming face-to-face with new connections?
VRG | Yeah, It had been 2 years since I had my divorce and writing about anything was fucking with me so I had to figure out what work needed to be done in order for me to really connect with what I was feeling. This song really felt like I was having a conversation with myself so I tried to give it that feeling with what I wrote.
John White | And how did you go about channeling that into creating this track?
VRG| I was with one of my producers one night and we we’re just sitting around talking shit, and I wanted to produce something on my own so I played some snares and kicks messing around with a Caribbean vibe. At this point my producer was knocked out, so I just started playing melodies on the pad and once I found something that stuck I thought about what I was feeling that day — and I started freestyling to the simple production I had laid out.
I literally closed my eyes and just thought about what was going on inside my head and what I couldn’t express and it just blew out of me. The whole thing felt so good to just say what I thought and I recorded the first verse and laid out the hook in the same night. While I was doing it John woke up and was like “Oh, shit this is dope!”. He ran to the computer and started adjusting the sound and started to help me put it together. At that point I knew it was something I wanted to really put my heart into.
John White | Well it definitely comes through. A lot of listeners will be able to easily relate to a track like this, is that something you were concerned with?
VRG | Absolutely, I relate to my music and I try to make it as relatable as possible for my fans. I always hope that what I write about can inspire something in someone or at least give some kind of distraction or comfort in our everyday routine. If someone relates to this in some kind of way, I’m glad, but either way it was something I needed to create before I could start working on a new direction. This particular song is special to me because it was something I created from start to finish on my own. Having that much influence on how your song sounds, from the instrument selection to the rhythm and mood, is such a dope feeling.
John White | So you’ve been working on developing your vocal skills, is that something that’s important to you?
VRG | As of lately I’ve really wanted to develop my singing voice in the studio, I’ve always wanted to get better at it and it’s something that I’ve done for a while on my own. In the near future I’m going to write more songs that feel like ‘Comfortably Numb’ and songs where I can go back to my roots in music; which is more hip-hop inspired and influenced.
John White | What do you hope the main takeaway from ‘Afraid To Love’ is?
VRG | One thing I want this song to reflect is the fact that we can all be vulnerable, and this is just me opening up and being vulnerable. I don’t think a lot of people are open to certain feelings but this song is dope – so people really don’t have a choice! Once you hear it a couple times it really is a vibe, and if you listen to what I’m saying you can understand how I ran with my feelings to make something you can really fuck with.
John White | Awesome, so what’s next for VRG?
VRG | I’m wrapping up my EP just in time for my birthday so I will have tons of new music out early next year! It’s a 5 track EP I’m working on with Bully Banger called ESCAPISM.
‘Afraid To Love’ releases February 12th on Spotify & iTunes
