Deni Vassileva Visits Section 36 Music!

Photo: DEYSIAVU

Section 36 Music has another visitor! Deni Vassileva is part of Little Red who just released an incredible single "Paint The Town Blue". If you haven't streamed that one yet, go do so now. I was so excited that Deni was willing to visit with us to discuss the single, and a bit more. I'm sure you'll love what she had to say.

So, let's see what happens when Deni Vassileva visits Section 36 Music!

I really loved your latest single, “Paint the Town Blue”. What can you tell me about it? 

Unlike our first two singles, and the ones coming in the near future, “Paint the Town Blue” was more of a joy project. I loved Ashnikko’s song when it first came out last year in the soundtrack of Arcane and I kept wondering what it would sound like if she had made it metal. I brought the idea to Al, he got inspired, and overnight he had written most of the instrumentals. Once I recorded some vocals on it, we thought our version was too fun not to release. We had to make space for it in the release schedule and it’s been a really great energetic one to play live. 

Do you see more studio work in your future?
We are currently hard at work on two separate EP’s, one of which I am hoping to release before the end of the year. Little Red started out as only me, my voice, and what some people would call “baddie-core” metal, but it’s become more than that. Our next two EP’s will show a greater variety of what Al and I can do creatively. Our listeners can expect harder breakdowns, a more authentic metalcore sound, ethereal ballads, and even better synth production. 

You’re a graduate of Berklee College of Music. What is the biggest thing Berklee did for your career? 

Aside from introducing me to Al, who has been my dream creative outlet, Berklee taught me a lot about handling the industry. My amazing professors in the business department really opened my eyes to how horrible this field is set up to be, but more importantly they gave me the building blocks to deal with it. I think it’s so important to acknowledge how difficult it is to find your place in music without being disheartened and creatively drained. Coming out of Berklee, I feel a lot more confident in my abilities to manage Little Red, book our performances, find relevant opportunities, collaborations, sources of funding, all to help us make our dream a success.

 

Who or what would you say are your greatest musical influences?

Photo: DEYSIAVU

I’d say the music we are writing right now and our inspiration for it is coming from Bring Me The Horizon, Spiritbox, Architects, and I Prevail, to name a few. We both love a heavy song, and the bands that inspire me, specifically, tend to be ones that push the boundaries of the metal genre. Whether that be by having different style clean and distorted vocals, an EDM breakdown, or a unique song structure - one where you get surprised when the breakdown hits - I like bands that experiment with it all. 

What would you say is your largest challenge with your music career?
My largest challenge at the moment is balancing my education, writing and recording time, and business. Al and I handle everything Little Red-related together, which means that both of us take on a lot of necessary, and otherwise costly, jobs. We have also both agreed that the band is our priority. However, I am starting a Masters program and he has a full time job. It is difficult to remember to prioritize our creative work in our current realities. I am just hoping that the frustration that music is not our full time and only job will just fuel more energy right into our music and stage performance. 

Photo: DEYSIAVU

What are your immediate musical goals?
Our immediate musical goals are taking on as many gigs as possible and finishing our currently started EPs. After a year of writing and releasing music remotely, Al and I are finally based in the same place (London, England), and we are ready to hit the ground running. My goals for the next year are to build up our audience from live performances and collaborate with more bands in the scene with us. Longterm? I can’t wait to make it big enough to return to Boston and play a gig with my friends from Berklee, however long that takes.

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Hopefully she'll be able to do that soon!

As always, I want to thank Deni for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to accompany the interview. 

I'm sure you’ll all want to follow her and see what she has going on. I would follow her on Instagram and Spotify to make sure you don't miss a thing. 

Thanks again, Deni, and good luck reaching your goals!