Daily Inspiration: Meet Vick Vapors

Today we’d like to introduce you to Vick Vapors.

Hi Vick Vapors, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Guillermo Jaime, and I go by the stage name Vick Vapors. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a guitarist after watching Chris in the movie Selena, seeing him be a shredder but still being able to play different genres really impressed me other than the fact that he looked like slash from Guns N Roses without the top hat, a true rockstar! As I grew older, I started to make my own riffs and started recording myself on GarageBand and would compose instrumentals after being heavily inspired by Buckethead. At the age of 18 I started playing backyard shows in the rising indie scene of the Inland Empire which brought up bands like The Red Pears, Archer Oh, Beach Bums and The High Curbs. Being in multiple bands I got to really experience the live aspect of playing the roles of a guitarist, bassist, Drummer, Keyboardist and apparently now a vocalist. I never planned on ever singing since I have always been a shy person and always hid behind an instrument for most of my times being in a band so now with performing as Vick Vapors it has really introduced me to something I never thought I could do. What really led me into the world of Darkwave was attending Other Voices shows in Riverside, CA, seeing acts like Male Tears, Spike Hellis and Kontravoid Introduced me to a new scene I didn’t know existed. These artists would come out with this dark electronic, synth driven EBM/Industrial sounds that blew me away. At the time I was also making electronic beats that were more HOMESHAKE inspired using drum machines and a Roland Juno 60 plug-in so seeing these performances were very intriguing to me! Seeing how these goth nights went hand in hand with music from the 80s that was nostalgic to me getting mixed with music that was just made last year but still sounded like it was made in the 80s really blew me away! This led me to really start deep diving into finding my sound and collaborating with people of mutual interest which is how I found my best friend Matt from FEVR, which is a band I also perform in! We have come up with many songs in collaboration together that really brings joy to us. Whenever I see people dancing to the music or expressing their love for it really makes it worth all the struggles of daily life. I am overall very blessed to be here with everyone I admire so much, the love from family, friends, supporters and the people that have gave us these opportunities will forever be in my heart.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There has definitely been struggles along the way, sometimes things don’t pan out the way you’d expect, working with people in this music industry Egos can take a huge effect on the turnout of things which can also affect your wellbeing. I have suffered a lot with self-doubt, anxiety, depression and never thinking I was great enough. My voice is one thing I never liked, and I always felt I could never be a singer or make good music but after facing the fear of not caring what people say and releasing, I have gotten a lot of people coming up to me now saying they like my music. It’s very easy to be stuck in your head and be scared but once you take the action of moving forward you never know what the end result may be.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I work off of abelton taking a majority of my sounds from plug-ins like Arturia and UA. I definitely like using the vintage keys that they have, like Juno, Prophet 5 , DX7 and Moog Mini which really cater to my sound. As of late I have been mixing and mastering as well as producing records with Grizz CLL. That has been reaching some success! It has been very fun woking with Grizz and BJ. I also have some more collabs coming along with Kyd Barrett, Night Ritualz, Fevr and many other artists!

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I would like to thank my friends and family for the endless support. Life can be an amazing thing when you do what you love. that’s why I would like to encourage everyone that feels like they’re struggling to never give up on your dreams and to continue reaching for the stars. Practice makes perfect, you can fail time and time again, but you will always come back with more experience. Staying genuine and true to yourself is what will set you apart from the rest, there is only ONE you in this world!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vickvapors.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vickvapors/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573591702123
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vickvapors448
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/vickvapors

Image Credits
Matt Rozo ( @ofsun_media )

Enkayia Parra ( @enkayia )

Aria Barajas ( @gwendalaria )

Manuel Arredondo ( @noblesavagecinema )