Warped in Reverse, Episode #6
Interview by Cosmic-A (Monica Demattei) | Transcription by Kiya Gaskin
At the 2016 Vans Warped Tour, Tour Press Force met up with Davey Muise from Vanna. While on tour, Vanna dropped their new record All Hell. Davey Muise shared how the band made this album for the fans and how music ultimately saved his life.
“The tour has been overwhelming to say the least,” said Muise. “We released a record on this tour, and the response from that, and the overall response from new fans…it’s been awesome. It’s been a really, truly amazing experience.”
Muise explained that the band’s album All Hell takes on a literal meaning.
“It’s kind of about the hell that I’ve gone through the last few years to become the person that I am today,” he said.
“And it’s my challenge to kids out there to not be ashamed of where they came from. To not be afraid if they’ve battled through something like depression or anxiety. Or if they used to be just an asshole. I really feel so often when people change and they become a better person, they tend to try to hide their past and not talk about it. But I think you should be proud of it because your past might connect with someone’s present.”
All of Vanna’s albums have not been as telling as All Hell. It was only recently that Muise began discussing his issues in his music.
“The record before All Hell was called Void,” Muise said. “And it was the first record where after touring for so long, I realized I needed to start talking about the problems I went through in my life. Because the very, very small amount of problems I did talk about on past records, those were songs that kids connected to and reacted to and shared their stories with me. And the whole time I kind of put on this front. I kind of just realized that I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m doing this wrong.
“So we wrote a record called Void, and that was the first record where I talked about how I went through a really bad depression in my early twenties and anxiety and substances. I finally talked about all that stuff, and it was our biggest record. The record that everybody related to. Our shows got bigger. We did bigger things. It was proof that if you share a little bit about yourself, it’ll come back to you.”
Making All Hell was a major accomplishment not only for Muise, but for the rest of the band as well.
“This record is big step for me – a big step for our band,” he said. “And I hope that people know Void and hear All Hell and it also makes a big step in their lives.”
Like so many others in the music industry, Muise overcame his dark past and heavy struggles by way of music.
“Music saved my life,” he said. “I’ve been playing music since I was a kid. I brought shows to my high school. I went through a very bad personal family experience and I lost touch with music. I got depressed. I stopped playing music, and I stopped being in bands. When I didn’t have that love in my life, I pushed a lot of friends and family out of my life. I was basically alone. I didn’t have music as my fallback to be like ‘yeah, but I still have this’. I didn’t have that anymore.
“I got a phone call from a friend, and it was basically a punch in the face. He was like ‘wake up, man. You’re here to tell kids your story and play music. Stop whatever you’re doing’. From that moment on, I worked really, really hard and started touring DIY. The whole time I was doing that I was feeling better. Music was there for me. Eventually, I
joined Vanna and everything changed for me. Music has always been my escape.”
To help others who have gone through similar struggles, Muise joined an organization to share his story.
“I actually speak at middle schools and high schools for a living outside of the band,” he said. “It’s for a program called Find Your Shovel. Shovels are anything that help you dig out of your problems. It could be anything – mine is music. Music has literally saved my life.”
After Warped Tour, Vanna went on a headlining tour in the US. Then, they headed overseas to tour with Beartooth.
In 2017, Vanna is set to premiere new musical projects, but Davey said it’s not new music. Fans will “have to wait and see.”
Also, the band wants to travel to Asia and spread music everywhere.
YouTube | Pretty Grim — VANNA (Official Music Video)
“We want to take over the world,” Muise said.
Although Vanna is not currently on tour, fans who missed them on Warped Tour last summer can follow them on social media to keep track of what is next for the band.
Facebook ; @vannamusic
Twitter: @VannaBoston
Instagram: @vannaband
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