Up next in 10
Emily V performs as an L.A.-based rock 'n' roll violinist who delivers electrifying shows through her unorthodox playing style, which resembles that of lead guitarists Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. Emily uses her classical training to create immersive solo performances through live looping techniques, which generate dramatic soundscapes that engage her audience. Emily V has performed across the United States while sharing stages with The Adicts and Walter Trout and Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real and Blind Melon and gained fame for extending the violin's capabilities in contemporary music. Emily V presents performances that defy traditional violinist expectations through her high-energy, genre-bending shows, which create enduring musical experiences.
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0:00
Okay guys, in the new episode of Denim
0:02
and Leather podcast, uh we have a great
0:05
uh great violin player uh alter a little
0:08
bit alternative uh Emily V. Uh you're
0:12
coming from uh from the West Coast,
0:14
right? Yes. Los Angeles. Los Angeles. U
0:19
how are you first? I'm good. How are
0:21
you? It's morning there. So, uh, uh,
0:25
here is here is a little bit late going,
0:28
uh, you know, closer to to dark. It it's
0:31
morning, and I'll tell you what, I very
0:34
rarely get myself ready in the morning
0:36
like
0:38
this. I'm usually still drinking coffee,
0:41
but um, that's okay. I had my coffee.
0:44
Um, and where are you? I'm in uh
0:47
southern Europe. So, it's getting
0:49
getting uh very close to to dark now.
0:53
What part of Europe? I'm uh I'm in uh
0:56
you maybe you heard of the country
0:58
Macedonia.
1:00
Yes. So, it's a it's uh neighboring to
1:03
Greece, very close to Italy. We're here.
1:06
Uh so, it's south it's uh southern
1:09
Europe. Uh southeastern probably. And uh
1:13
we have a lot of sun here just like you
1:15
have there.
1:17
Um first I wanted to ask you because uh
1:20
people in Europe are probably not that
1:22
familiar with Emily V. Uh not yet. Yeah.
1:26
Uh so uh when did you start with uh with
1:30
violin or with other instruments or with
1:32
music in general? Um so violin is my
1:36
first instrument. Um, and I started um,
1:40
I actually asked my parents for lessons
1:43
and my dad played when he was in grade
1:47
school and didn't really continue after
1:49
that. But when I was a young girl, my
1:52
uh, my parents showed me these violins
1:54
that my dad had played on when he was a
1:56
young boy. And I picked up the violin
1:58
and I just like instantly fell in love.
2:02
Um, I don't know. I don't know if I
2:04
played violin in another life, but I
2:06
just knew that I wanted to play. Um, I
2:08
begged my parents for lessons. My mom,
2:11
um, I come from a big family. I have
2:13
five brothers, and I think my mom was a
2:15
little bit hesitant to maybe pay for
2:17
lessons right away if she didn't know
2:18
that I was going to be kind of like into
2:20
it. And and I was. So, I I finally
2:24
started playing when I was about turning
2:27
I was 11. I was about to turn 12. Um,
2:30
and I'm classically trained, so I
2:32
started in classical music. Um, but I'm
2:36
raised on classic rock and I always knew
2:38
that I wanted to be an alternative
2:40
violinist and play like other styles.
2:43
Um, in fact, I always was trying to um,
2:48
kind of copy Jimmyi Hendris on the
2:50
violin with a W pedal and stuff. I was
2:51
like 15 and I was in my room. I had
2:54
soldered on a different kind of input on
2:56
my my I had an eighth inch and I cut it
2:58
off and soldered on a quarter inch and I
3:00
duct taped it on and I plugged in a W
3:02
pedal and I put it into an amp and I
3:05
would pretend like I was Jimmyi Hendris
3:06
on the violin but it sounded like [ __ ]
3:08
I mean it sounded horrible. Um but yeah,
3:12
so that was that was kind of um that was
3:15
how I got started. Um and then I went I
3:18
long story short, I ended up going to
3:19
school for music. Um I got a
3:22
scholarship. I moved down to LA. Um went
3:24
to Long Beach State as a violin
3:26
performance major. So I was still doing
3:28
a lot of classical, but in this time I
3:30
had taught myself guitar. Um I was I was
3:34
listening to, you know, I was raised
3:35
listening to Led Zeppelin and the
3:37
Rolling Stones and The Doors and Pink
3:39
Floyd and the Beatles and all that
3:42
stuff. And then my big brother turned me
3:44
on to like Allison Chains and Nirvana
3:48
um and like '90s hiphop and all all of
3:51
that world. Then I had another brother
3:53
that was really into like Iron Maiden
3:54
and
3:55
Metallica. Um, so I had a lot of
3:58
different
3:58
influences. Um, and then when I went to
4:01
school I was I was submersed in the
4:03
classical world, but then I was also
4:05
submersed in the jazz world. So I was
4:07
kind of diving into like Stefon Graelli,
4:09
Miles Davis, you know, John Col Train,
4:12
like all that kind of stuff. So I really
4:14
got my influence from every single style
4:17
of music there really is out there. Uh,
4:20
and I started I was a waitress in
4:24
college and I would go to the Irish pub
4:29
after I waitressed. I would go to
4:32
school, I would waitress, and then I
4:33
would go to the pub and I would meet
4:35
every single band that played there like
4:37
six nights a week and I would sit in
4:41
with every single band that would let
4:43
me. And that was actually really where I
4:45
cut my teeth as a performer, as an
4:48
improvisational violinist, as um getting
4:52
my rig together. You know, I've since I
4:55
have an I have several different amps I
4:57
play through. I have several different
4:58
pedal boards I've built. Um I've played
5:01
with many, many people. I've toured with
5:03
many people. I've recorded with many
5:04
people. I'm doing my own thing. And now
5:07
I am not your typical violinist. And I
5:09
love to rock out. Wow. It's uh it's a
5:14
great history of how you got to here.
5:15
But uh uh tell me uh you you know you
5:18
know uh what's interesting you're like
5:21
the third alternative violinist that
5:23
I've ever heard in my life. Uh the first
5:25
one was uh I'm a huge fan of Twisted
5:28
Sister of DN Snider and first time I
5:30
heard was Mark Wood. You know Mark Wood.
5:34
Yes. Mark Mark Wood played with D Snider
5:36
in a band. So yeah, I know him
5:39
personally. I've I've in fact he found
5:42
me at NM one year and he really wanted
5:45
me to play on his he's got a a line of
5:48
electric violins. Yeah. Wow. I didn't
5:51
know of that connection. Uh so uh do you
5:55
record albums with uh with a lot of
5:58
people?
5:59
I have recorded with a lot of different
6:02
people. Um I've got a studio as you can
6:05
see. So, I I do record remotely for
6:08
people and I collaborate with people. Um
6:11
I'm and I'm currently trying to write
6:14
and record my own personal stuff. Is uh
6:18
your personal album or maybe? Yes. Yeah.
6:22
So, uh when I told when I told you that
6:24
I I've heard for three uh people that do
6:28
that, I I know Lindsay Sterling, but she
6:30
plays more like a pop music. Yeah, she's
6:34
she's incredible. Mark Wood, it's
6:36
incredible. All these violinists are
6:38
incredible. I would say that we're all
6:40
very very different
6:42
style-wise. Um,
6:45
uh, yeah, I don't know. I think because
6:48
my influences have mostly come from
6:51
guitar
6:52
players. Um, and actually and even now
6:56
what I've been kind of diving into is
6:58
like is the influence of a vocalist and
7:01
what a vocalist can do because since my
7:04
violin I don't have frets on my violin I
7:07
can you know and all of these other
7:09
violinists would probably say the same
7:10
thing these other alternative violinist
7:11
is like you know I can create sounds and
7:14
tones that a lot of other guitarists and
7:17
other instruments cannot do but I can
7:19
kind of morph into the sound of a guitar
7:21
or a saxophone or a harmonica. a um or
7:24
or a beautiful acoustic violin, you
7:27
know. Yeah. So, do you do you always
7:29
have your your color of of the sound or
7:34
you always switch?
7:37
Um I would say my tone is pretty
7:40
consistent with like I think a lot of
7:42
people with the way I play and I think
7:45
with the my tone because I'm not a very
7:49
shrill bright violinist. My violin is a
7:52
little bit more dark and warm and girthy
7:55
and stuff because I like the I like to
7:58
almost like emulate the tone of like a
8:00
really
8:01
um I'm trying to think of some guitarist
8:04
that I really love. Um, of course it
8:07
escapes me when I'm on the spot. Um, but
8:10
that really like warm like you know tone
8:13
that really cuts through as opposed to
8:16
like sometimes for me violin especially
8:19
electric violin can be too real and
8:23
sparkly sounding. Yeah, maybe because
8:26
you mentioned Ellison Chains maybe maybe
8:28
Jerry Contrell he has that uh dark tone.
8:31
Maybe Allison Chains is one of my
8:34
all-time favorite bands. Yeah. And
8:37
they're darkest of all time. And they're
8:38
dark. And Lane Staley's vocals. I love
8:41
to do Lane Staley's vocals on my violin
8:43
because he's just so like he's just so
8:46
swimming through like all these weird
8:48
like notes and stuff. Yeah, he has that.
8:51
He has those harmonies. Uh maybe you
8:54
should try the the high ones like
8:56
Sebastian Bach or or or Rob Halford or
9:00
something.
9:01
Yeah, actually I saw Jerry Kentrell not
9:04
that long ago. I saw him a handful of
9:06
months ago. His poster is in my
9:07
bathroom.
9:11
Yeah, I have one of my bathrooms in my
9:13
house is I'm collecting band posters
9:16
because I wanted it I wanted my bathroom
9:19
to feel like a green room bathroom when
9:21
you go in there and there's like all the
9:23
flyers and posters of different bands.
9:25
Yeah. So, I'm kind of creating that in
9:27
my bathroom right now. And I've got a
9:29
I've got a um uh what do you call it?
9:33
Um, the light that makes everything
9:35
glow. A black light. I have a black
9:37
light in there. My big brother gave me a
9:39
black light. So, I I put a lot of like
9:41
black light posters in there.
9:45
Uh, it's good for for inspiration for
9:48
your next uh music. Maybe Yeah. So, when
9:51
you're using the restroom, you can sit
9:53
there and
9:56
How do How do you create music? you you
9:58
first write on your uh you play on your
10:00
violin or first you like write uh the
10:02
music down. How do you do that? Um so I
10:06
also play guitar. I play ba a little bit
10:09
of basic keys and I'm really into
10:12
writing lyrics. In fact, I'm like a I'm
10:15
a mad woman right now. I've written so
10:17
many lyrics. I'm just kind of I've got a
10:19
couple different people that I'm
10:20
co-writing with as well and kind of
10:22
waiting to see what forms into um what
10:26
the album is going to be. I I actually
10:29
to back up a little bit, I actually
10:30
wrote and recorded about half of an
10:33
album with uh John Avala back during the
10:36
pandemic. Um, and I sort of changed my
10:40
direction a little bit musically, so it
10:43
didn't quite make sense for me at the
10:44
time to put some of that stuff out, but
10:46
it was still very much in the same vein
10:48
of what I really love in the style of
10:51
music. Um, I think now, um, sorry, I'm
10:55
kind of deviated off your question. I'll
10:57
get back to that. But I think now I've
11:00
really been digging deep back into my
11:02
roots of like uh, blues rock. It's
11:06
interesting because uh like I play
11:08
violin. I think a lot of people expect
11:10
it to either be classical or country. Um
11:14
I'm just not country is not
11:18
my forte. I there's certain country that
11:22
I really love, especially like old old
11:24
classic country. Um, but the the style
11:28
of music that I really love, I think
11:31
because it comes from because I listen
11:32
to a lot of Led Zeppelin and that's a
11:34
lot of their influences were a lot of
11:36
the old blues guys and stuff like that.
11:38
So now I'm like kind of diving into this
11:41
like, you know,
11:43
riffbased with a, you know, four on the
11:46
floor kind of, you know, where they sing
11:48
with the riff on the guitar but doing it
11:50
on violin. Yeah. Yeah. kind of like how
11:53
Lark and Poe is, you know, I love Lark
11:55
and Poe. If you know Lark and Poe, the
11:56
sisters, they're they've got that that
11:59
kind of earthy, you know, grounded vibe.
12:03
Um, so when I write, um, it's always
12:07
different. Sometimes I get inspired to
12:09
write lyrics. Sometimes I get inspired.
12:12
I'll just get my headphones on here and
12:15
I'll throw on a drummer from like Logic
12:17
or something and I'll mess around on my
12:18
keys, you know, and then I'll throw a
12:20
violin on. It's actually the irony now
12:24
answering this question, the irony of
12:26
the whole thing is that I actually
12:28
almost never start a song on violin.
12:33
Never.
12:35
I I don't I can't think of a song that
12:37
I've ever started writing on violin. I
12:39
think I've always gone to a cordal
12:42
instrument first that with the actual
12:45
music and where I've had the lyrics
12:47
going. So that's that's interesting. I
12:49
never really thought about that until
12:51
just now. So it was a good question
12:52
then. Yeah.
12:56
I just had like a light bulb go on.
12:57
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
12:59
Uh did you tour with with some bands uh
13:03
back in the past or No, I mean um Yeah.
13:08
I mean, I've toured with I've toured and
13:11
performed and guest artists with a lot
13:13
of different people. Um, I was on the
13:15
road with the Addicts. They're a old old
13:18
punk punk band that have been around.
13:21
Um, I want to say back
13:23
in
13:26
200 16 or 18 or something like that.
13:29
Anyways, I I did a couple short runs
13:31
with them. That was really fun doing
13:33
like the punk violin theme.
13:37
Um, I've guested artist and played with
13:39
Lucas Nelson. I've played with Blind
13:42
Melon. Um, oh, do they still exist?
13:46
Yes. Blind Melon. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In
13:49
fact, a good my my good friend is their
13:51
lead singer. So, I actually Oh, okay. We
13:54
we lived in the same town together for a
13:55
long time and that's how we kind of like
13:58
sort of stayed in touch. Um, I've played
14:01
with Robbie Kger, the guitarist of the
14:02
Doors. Yeah. um at the whiskey which was
14:06
very cool. I got to trade solos with
14:07
him. He was on guitar. I was on violin.
14:10
Um and then I've been with I've been
14:12
with a lot of other bands that have been
14:15
you know maybe not as internationally
14:17
known. Um but have done some amazing
14:21
things like that. I've gotten to open up
14:23
for some great people. Um I've played
14:25
Rock to Recovery at the Fonda Theater in
14:28
LA with all the sober musicians. I'm a
14:30
I'm a sober musician. Um, so I've got I
14:33
got to play with some celebrity
14:34
musicians there. Uh, so I mean I could
14:36
go on and on. Yeah, I' I've gotten to do
14:38
some pretty pretty fun and exciting
14:41
things. I I love it. I I mean uh I
14:43
didn't know about all of the history,
14:45
you know, of of your of your playing. Uh
14:48
how on how many records maybe do you
14:51
know how many CDs or vinyls your music
14:54
is on?
14:57
Um not off the top of my head, but it
15:00
would be a lot. Oh,
15:03
in fact um one of the last like most
15:06
involved was I was in the Kevin Souza
15:08
band and for those of you that are in
15:10
Europe and stuff won't know. Um but
15:13
locally we were we were a fairly big
15:15
local band to where I live. Um and um
15:19
Kevin Souza was a good friend of mine.
15:21
He has since passed away. We're coming
15:22
up on two years. So when he died that
15:25
obviously was the end of that project.
15:27
But um we re we wrote and recorded an
15:30
album of during the pandemic. Um and
15:32
that album is on Spotify under Kevin Su
15:35
the Kevin Souza band. Um actually might
15:37
be under Kevin Souza. S O SA and all of
15:40
the strings on there are recorded by
15:42
myself. Um in fact we recorded all of
15:45
them in the bathroom at the studio that
15:47
we were at. Um my violin was recorded in
15:50
the bathroom there. Um but there's some
15:52
great things on there. It's a little
15:53
hard for me to listen to that album
15:55
because I was very close with Kevin and
15:56
and he was like a big brother to me, but
15:59
um the music's great and it's, you know,
16:01
there's some really ripping violin on
16:03
there, too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
16:05
Yeah. So, I got to ask you because it's
16:07
Emily V. The V stands for violin, right?
16:11
No, the V is just it's just Emily V.
16:14
Okay. So, it stands for like like an
16:16
artistic name, right? It's just my my
16:18
stage name, Emily V. It's just that when
16:21
I went to go change it from from
16:23
Facebook on, you know, I'm on the
16:26
personal Facebook, my artist Facebook,
16:28
and my artist Instagram. And for a long
16:31
time, I didn't use my my personal
16:34
Facebook page for much until maybe this
16:37
last year, I thought, well, I've got a
16:39
lot of people that don't follow me on
16:40
these other places. So, I started just
16:43
kind of sharing what I was sharing on
16:44
all all my other platforms there. Um,
16:47
and I try to change my name and Facebook
16:50
won't let it just be one letter. Um, so
16:54
it's Emily Violin and a lot of people
16:55
think my name is Emily Violin. It's not.
16:57
It's just that that's what my Facebook
16:59
says, but it sounds good. It sounds
17:02
good.
17:04
Yeah. Yeah. Uh, what are your what are
17:07
your next uh maybe plans on doing
17:11
something shortterm or long term?
17:15
Um, well, currently I'm I'm playing with
17:19
many different projects. Keeps me very
17:21
very busy. As you know, we had to
17:23
reschedule this about a billion times.
17:26
Um, and so right now I'm just
17:31
um kind of co-writing with a couple of
17:34
the different projects that I'm in right
17:36
now to kind of see sort of, you know, I
17:40
think as an artist, it's just kind of
17:42
finding, you know, who can commit and
17:45
kind of put their all into a project.
17:47
And for me, that's the most important.
17:49
Um, and so, you know, I think by this
17:52
next year, um, by the end of this year,
17:54
there'll be some more recordings out of
17:57
more more of my original stuff. Um, I'm
18:00
in talks with a studio in Nashville and
18:03
some different things as well. Um, so
18:05
that's the that's the kind of short and
18:08
longterm goals because those are both,
18:10
right? Um, and I've got a lot of my my
18:14
calendar is very full with um traveling
18:18
and flight dates and stuff with um
18:21
another project that wants me to go on
18:23
tour with them by the end of this year.
18:25
Um, and a an Irish rock band that I'm
18:28
already a part of right now and we've
18:31
got a bunch of dates through the end of
18:33
this year. Um, and then a project that
18:35
I've started with my now singer, his
18:37
name's Danny Bicil. we're writing and
18:40
recording together. Um, and then I've
18:42
got another new guitarist that's come
18:44
in, wants to do a project, and then in
18:46
between I'm writing all my own original
18:48
stuff. So, I don't know if that answers,
18:51
but definitely a lot of things are
18:52
happening right now. I would say if you
18:54
want to see what's happening, I would
18:55
definitely follow my Instagram and my
18:58
Facebook cuz I'm I'm very active on
19:00
social media, too. Yeah, I will we will
19:02
put all the links down there uh so
19:04
people can can find out. But uh I always
19:07
say I always see on your socials on
19:09
Facebook I followed you. Uh I always see
19:12
a packed packed clubs where you play. I
19:15
mean it's uh sold out shows, right? Oh
19:20
yeah. Um so cuz I started doing a solo
19:23
show a couple years ago and I played in
19:26
Arizona.
19:28
Um, I'm trying to think when that I
19:31
think it was in February and it was uh
19:34
it was just me fronting my own project
19:37
and I had my very very good friend Steve
19:39
Agular who I lovingly call Shag. He's a
19:42
keyboard player. He doesn't just he
19:44
plays keys and keys bass and he's an
19:48
incredible MD and an incredible person.
19:51
He's one of my best friends. He he was
19:54
my partner on that project um at least
19:57
during that show because I've also done
19:58
that show with um Jonathan Mover who's a
20:00
very well-known drummer for Joe
20:02
Bonamasa. Um he performs with me as
20:05
well. Um that's another project that I'm
20:08
supposed to be um possibly joining and
20:12
touring with a little bit this year and
20:14
into next year with uh with Jonathan
20:17
Mover. If any if any of you guys are
20:19
fans of him, then you know how
20:20
incredible he is. Awesome. Awesome. Um,
20:22
but when I went to go do this solo show
20:24
in Arizona, um, completely sold out both
20:28
nights to the brim. So, a lot of things
20:31
that I'm doing right now, I think a lot
20:32
of people are very excited about. And
20:34
for the most part, like everything's
20:36
mostly selling out. So, I'm very
20:38
blessed. I'm very lucky. I'm very
20:40
thankful for people that are following
20:42
my journey. Well, uh, I can I can see
20:45
you're very busy and you already in the
20:48
studio, so maybe you you'll work on some
20:50
music. Uh so I I got to thank you for
20:52
this interview. Uh thank you for
20:54
accepting the offer uh of this interview
20:56
and uh it was a long wait but we did it.
21:00
Yes. Yes. And thank you for having me. I
21:02
really appreciate it. Of course. Thank
21:04
you. Thank you, Emily.
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