By Juliet Oswald and Tate DeCarlo

Photo by Jaymie Belknap (@jaymiebelknap on Instagram)

A few weeks ago, KUPS was lucky enough to host the one and only Vika for an interview in the booth. We spoke to her before her wonderful performance at the McMenamin’s Spanish Ballroom at Elks Temple, and the following is the transcript from our on-air interview!

Juliet Oswald: Hey, you guys this is KUPS 90.1 FM Tacoma The Sound. I’m Juliet.

Tate DeCarlo: And I’m Tate. We’re here for a very special little bit of time in the booth, as we’ve got an exciting interview today. Do you want to introduce yourself?

Vika: Yes, hello. My name is Vika, from Vika and the Velvets and I’m from Spokane, Washington.

Tate: And where are you playing tomorrow?

Vika: I will be playing at the Spanish ballroom.

Tate: So do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself? A little bit about your backstory? Where you’re from? All that good stuff. 

Vika: As I said, I’m from Spokane. I’ve been playing music since I was 13-14 years old and started a band back in 2020. And that really started everything off for me. I Started to fall in love with performing and writing music, and now I’m almost at 3.5 million streams on one of my songs which is just super inspiring, so I’m hoping I can keep continuing this journey.

Tate: Where did you get started with music? What was your first instrument?

Vika: I’ve always been super interested in guitar as my main instrument, but my brother was the one to inspire me to pick it up. He’s an incredible jazz musician. He’s a jazz drummer and jazz pianist, and he was the one who introduced me into a whole new world of music.

Juliet: Really cool. So would you say that that’s kind of like where you began with your music and everything kind of started up?

Vika: Oh yeah.

Tate: Do you ever play with your brother now?

Vika: Yeah, he’s actually my keyboard player and he’ll be playing with me tomorrow night. He flies out from LA to be with us. He’s a studio musician there and he’s doing great. Seriously incredible.

Juliet: Good for him, that sounds great. 

Tate: Where does your name come from?

Vika: My first name is Viktoria with a K. I was born in Russia, so that was my given name. And then when I moved to the US, I got a second name. Olivia, which I very much dislike. So yeah, I basically have two first names. You could say it’s a middle name, but I like to say it’s another first name.

Juliet: So how similar is your current sound to the music that you were making in the beginning of your career and journey?

Vika: I’d say it’s pretty similar, but it’s definitely progressed and morphed into a better style. I feel like I didn’t completely know who I was before.

Juliet: Are there like certain people that you kind of draw inspiration from, like big musicians? 

Vika: Oh yeah. My main inspiration is Amy Winehouse, she’s great. She’s been my main inspiration since I was a kid. Anything 60s and 50s as well, I love Do-Wop and ballads. 

Tate: Have you always been drawn in that direction? Or were there certain things from childhood that pulled you that way?

Vika: Yeah, I’ve always been drawn to 50s music, that’s been like a huge thing for me. 60s and surf rock, and then that also pulls out jazz, you know, that comes with the blues and that’s where I’m kind of heading towards right now with “Lovers Liquor Store.” So it’s really fun, refreshing. I have another single coming out March 1st, that’s very similar to that vibe as well. My brother wrote that with me, and his piano is beautiful, so you’ll be happy to hear that one too.

Tate: You said you’re kind of leaning into blues, you’re taking inspiration from jazz and Do-Wop, is there like a certain way that you would characterize your style?

Vika: Um, I’d say with my band, it’s a lot of blues rock. But yeah, there’s a lot of jazz in there. Neo Soul, we go for a lot of soul vibes. Amy Winehouse vibes. Yeah, it’s a mix of a lot of things. Our bass player is very all over the place, but he’s in he’s incredible. And he’s very jazzy, and my brother is very jazzy. And then we have a saxophone player who is just incredible. So it’s an interesting mix.

Juliet: So you write your own music, where do you pull your inspiration from for lyrics and stuff like that?

Vika: Well, I said this in my interview last night. Everything I write is inspired by mostly heartbreak and pain. But I’ve also written a lot about summertime, like memories of being happy in the summertime and how I’m grieving on that. That’s the main thing, summertime and sadness. 

Tate: Yeah, there’s a really clear sense of almost bittersweet nostalgia in a lot of your music, from what I’ve listened to, that I think really comes through. What has been an essential moment or like a pivotal moment in your career so far?

Vika: I’d have to say when “70s Haze” hit a million. That was like, I was never expecting anything, because that was the first song I ever released. I didn’t know what I was doing. I recorded that for free because we had one battle of bands, which was like a free recording. I was 16 and I didn’t know what I was doing. And I was not expecting it to blow up, so when it did, I was kind of like, “oh, okay, I can do better than this, and I’m going to.” 

Tate: That’s awesome, a great opportunity to push further too, having known that you can do that. How did you celebrate that achievement?

Vika: I don’t know. Honestly, I think my mom made me feel really good about it. She’s really supportive. She actually worked here (at KUPS) as a DJ. She went to college here with her sister, and they both worked here, I think on like Tuesday mornings or something. Shout out Mom.

Tate: That’s crazy cool.

Juliet: Seriously. What have been some of your favorite places to play?

Vika: I love playing in Seattle. Anywhere outside of Spokane I love. I’ve played everywhere in Spokane, so it gets a little boring. The Montvale in Spokane was super fun. We played the Knitting Factory in Spokane. We played Fremont Fridays in Fremont. The Rabbit Box Theater,  that was super fun.

Juliet: Has performing live just come naturally to you, or was that kind of a struggle to begin with?

Vika: Um, when I first started, I did not want to perform. I was super insecure. I was not confident, I didn’t know what I was doing. And as soon as I said yes to a performance, everything changed and I knew I wanted to perform, it was so much fun. It was like, meant to be. 

Tate: So it just clicked after the first one? 

Vika: Yeah, like in the moment. I looked up into the crowd and I just realized everything was meant to be.

Tate: Is there any advice that you wish you could give your younger self as you started your music career?

Vika: I’d say don’t be afraid to go at your own pace because, you know, it’s not a race. You don’t have to compare yourself to other people because art dies at comparison. And you’re the only thing that matters and people are gonna like it or they’re gonna hate it, so do what makes you happy.

Juliet: Really good advice. Are there any dream artists that you’d really like to collaborate with?

Vika: If she wasn’t dead… (referring to Amy Winehouse). Yeah, Laufey would be pretty fun too, anything like that.

Tate: How can fans stay up to date with your music? I know you said that you’ve got a single coming out soon. Are there any platforms that you want to plug, be they streaming or be they social media? 

Vika: Yeah, you can follow me on instagram @_oliviavika, and you can follow my Spotify, VIKA, and Apple Music, same thing. I’m not a Facebook girl. My personal Spotify is @oliviavika, if you want to listen to some of my favorite music. 

Juliet: Will be doing that, for sure. 

Tate: Do you have any musical guilty pleasures?

Vika: Oh, Matt Maltese. So good. His early stuff, like “Strange Time.” Yellow House.

Tate: Like “Love in the Time of Socialism”?

Vika: Yeah, he’s based out of Cape Town in South Africa. He does everything himself, so inspired by him as well.

Tate: Super cool, would you want to work with him sometime? 

Vika: Yes, yes.

Tate: So you said you had a single coming out, and I know you’ve been kind of releasing singles for a little while now. Do you have a larger project In the works? Maybe an album?

Vika: Yeah, we’re working on an EP right now. We haven’t officially started yet, but we have some songs that we’re gearing up to record. They’re really good, I’m excited.

Tate: What should we maybe expect from that EP, what’s it gonna sound like?

Vika: Oh, it’s a lot of, like I said, hopefully Do-Wop, 60s vibes, 50s vibes and a lot more changes because in my previous stuff that I released, I feel like it was very similar and just like the same four chords or three chords repeating. It didn’t really go anywhere. Whereas these new ones, I feel like take you somewhere. 

Tate: Getting a little more complex? That’s awesome.

Juliet: So what are some of your interests like outside of music? Do you have any just silly little hobbies or fun stuff?

Vika: I’m a skier, I love to ski. I love to be in the mountains. I love the PNW, I love to hike. Yeah, I love to travel. I’m traveling a fair amount, I want to be outside of the US if I can be.

Tate: Where have you been recently? 

Vika: The latest place was Oaxaca, in Mexico. That was beautiful.

Juliet: Where’s your favorite place you’ve been?

Vika: Ooh, probably Guatemala, it’s beautiful. Or Australia. Or Greece, Greece was beautiful. Oh, or the Amalfi Coast, that was like paradise on earth. If I could travel for the rest of my life, I could. 

Tate: How’d you fare with the spiders in Australia?

Vika: Couldn’t deal with that, not at all. 

Tate: Sounds horrifying. From what I can tell off of streaming services, it seems like there was a lull in your music in 2022. Is there any reason why that might have been that you feel comfortable talking about?

Vika: Um, basically, you know, it’s just hard to record because it costs money. I think during that time, I was going through a bit of a band breakup, and yeah, I was in between inspirations at that time, I guess. I feel like as artists, it’s kind of like a cycle of writing and being inspired, and then times where there’s no inspiration at all. You need to sit with yourself and have that space away, I feel like that was definitely that time for me.

Tate: What did you spend that time doing?

Vika: I think I grew a lot in that time. I developed a lot as a person and I started to understand myself a little bit better. But that was in 2021-22. Yeah, I think I dropped out of college, and I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. I think I was doing community college for a little bit. I graduated from master esthetician school now so I have that as a backup plan. Doing a lot of things. 

Tate: Clearly very multifaceted. Do you feel like that growth you experienced during that period is going to be reflected on the album that you got coming out soon? 

Vika: Oh, yeah. It’s gonna be so much better than that album. I wouldn’t want anyone to listen to that album (referring to her previous), because I don’t feel like it reflects who I am at all. But you know, I guess it did reflect who I was at that time. So I keep it up, even though I’m a little embarrassed about it.

Juliet: No, no, it’s just, you know, it’s fun to have a library to look back on. I always like having an artist and seeing how they’ve developed over time. You know, it’ll be cool for your fans.

Vika: Exactly, that’s an interesting way to think about it.

Tate: We’re running near the end of our questions. Are there any other artists that maybe you’ve played with while you were in Spokane or have played with while touring that you would recommend to us to check out?

Vika: Yeah, I would totally recommend The Bed Heads. They’re our friends from Spokane, they’re playing with us tomorrow night at the Spanish Ballroom. They just released a single on February 2, and it’s incredible. You should definitely stream that. Also, go stream Blake Braley. 

Tate: Is the Spokane scene pretty like, fostering to new artists, or is it kind of hard to break into?

Vika: Yeah, I think it’s kind of a corrupt scene right now. We have like three running venues  besides the Knitting Factory. It’s kind of hard, but there’s a lot of new up and coming bands I feel like, who definitely get their share of playing time, so I wouldn’t say it’s too hard.

Tate: Is there anything you’d like to change?

Vika: Definitely more venues.

Tate: Is there anything else that you’d like to say? Any final words? Any last sentiments? 

Juliet: Any plugs? Shout outs?

Vika: Yeah, go stream my music, thank you for listening! Come to the show tomorrow night. We hope to see you there.

Tate: Thank you so much. You’ve been tuned in to KPS 90.1 FM The Sound with me, Tate… 

Juliet: and me, Juliet… 

Tate: and our very special guest… 

Vika: Vika! Thank you so much. 

Juliet: Great, thank you guys!

If you’re interested in checking out some of Vika’s music, give her newest single “Lovely Little Game” a listen.