When you need a song you’re not going to skip, and when you’re seeking a band you’re not going to want to simply pass over – then you’re looking for Vicky von Vicky and their latest drop, “Not The Man.”
The Toronto-based four piece, featuring Michael Wynn on guitar and vocals, Paul Pasanen on drums, Rolston Miller on bass, and Tom Nesbitt on guitar, are officially back. And they’re on the indie circuit with new music and a renewed focus on songwriting and collaboration.
Vicky von Vicky formed in the late ’90s featuring former members of Kingston’s Trains of Winter. The group recorded and released two albums – their eponymous debut in 1998, followed by Farmers & Artists in 2001. After a lengthy hiatus, the band decided to reunite in 2019 and are eager to unveil fresh music and forge new connections with people who like listening to something just a little different. And they’re leading that charge with their release “Not The Man”.
“The song itself is about a relationship, which may or may not be one-sided in the narrator’s mind,” explains Wynn, going on to add: “It touches on the roller coaster ride of not knowing how another person feels, etc. especially at the beginning of some sort of connection. And not being able to think about anything else but that person.”
A fan of lyrical quirkiness from that of the Pixies and Velvet Underground, Wynn says he’s “always been attracted to the Springsteen-style of songwriting, where you develop characters and a story, largely fictional, that is drawn from personal experiences. I usually like to put some sort of twist on it, too, like the Pixies would. And for myself, somewhat ironically, when it comes to writing ‘happy-pop’ songs I tend to go the ‘breakup song’ route.”
The result is “Not The Man”, an up-beat, indie rock anthem Wynn had tinkered out by September of 2022. “I knew the chorus would be hard to forget once you had heard it a few times, as I myself was not able to get it out of my head,” Wynn recalls, adding: “I immediately knew this was something I wanted to put out and record.”
Produced by Nixon Boyd of Hollerado, Wynn recorded his newly minted tracks between Boyd’s Orillia-based studio, Simcoe Mechanical, and Banquet Sound in Toronto. After completion earlier this year, Vicky von Vicky collectively decided to release the music as a reunited group.
“Being someone who has played in various bands for the last few decades, I was asking myself, ‘why am I still creating music?’” reflects Wynn. “However, I soon realized it’s something I need to do, it’s in my DNA, the process is just something that is therapeutic and that satisfies my soul and makes me happy.”
And the band is prepared to leave both their legacy fans and new listeners happy. Vicky von Vicky are “Not The Man”, but absolutely the band you’ll fall in love with all over again.
