It’s fairly easy to get tangled up in the music of Bryce Vine. Atmospheric qualities and witty lyricism litter his songs and create perfect songs to vibe to.
Unsurprisingly, the soulful rapper and singer awaits a sold-out crowd in Madison Tuesday as he prepares to perform with opening acts Kid Quill and 7715. Vine is on tour to anticipate the release of his debut album, Carnival.
Watsky talks music, creative ventures ahead of Majestic show
Of course, Vine’s sold-out appearance doesn’t come out of nowhere. Vine was introduced to music at a young age when his mom recognized his interest and bought him an acoustic guitar.
“I spent every night in my garage learning one string at a time how to play,” Vine said. “I would record little song ideas on my eight-track tape.”
A journalism class provided unexpected inspiration for Vine to hone his songwriting skills and musical connections.
Vine met a classmate who played drums and formed a band with her. Additionally, while fairly certain his foray into journalism was limited to a film review or two, Vine found his journalism class allowed him to write more expressively than any other.
“It was the closest thing in high school to being able to write songs without getting in trouble in class,” Vine said.
After performing at different venues around Los Angeles, further development at the Berklee School of Music still left Vine unsure which genres suited his voice best. Vine experimented with gospel, jazz ensembles and classes before meeting a collaborator who made beats, steering him towards a pop rap sound.
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Vine’s music has a heightened, glamorous feel on top of its pop and rap foundations. The cheeky lyricism in songs like “Drew Barrymore” pair well with the polished production.
Vine’s work on empowering songs like “Glamorama” is also admirable — he subverts sexist stereotypes typically found in popular music and gives power to female images.
Ahead of the show, Vine hopes to create an energetic environment for the large crowd
“If a crowd is giving me everything that they have, you can feel it,” Vine said. “They can’t stop moving around and they’re smiling and singing and they’re yelling all the words … If I’m tired when I get off stage, I know it was a great show.”
Hopefully, Vine will be a bit tired when he leaves the Majestic stage Tuesday.
Vine’s performance with Kid Quill and 7715 is sold-out for Tuesday evening. Fans without tickets can anticipate the release of a new single, “La La Land,” in the upcoming weeks as well as Carnival’s later debut.
