Today we’d like to introduce you to Vicky Warwick.
Hi Vicky, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story, ‘small-town girl comes to big city to follow her dreams’ is a certain cliché in Los Angeles. But for that reason, I’m sure I’m in good company with readers who agree—it really is incredible to be surrounded by so many people working hard at their dream careers. Just living in this city—at the risk of sounding incredibly corny—is a dream come true.
I was born with an aversion to ‘corniness’ in London, England – but my years living in the States has softened my cynical British edges. People in LA are very good at sharing their dreams, feelings, and gratitude and I’m here for it! My ‘dream’ started as a teenager, wanting to make a living as a musician. At 17, I played bass in bands at DIY shows in my hometown: the football club, the rugby club – wherever we could.
When I was 18, I went to a music college in London (BIMM) to get my Bachelor of Music and started auditioning for projects and bands. The music industry is very ‘who you know’ and word-of-mouth, so one gig led to another–my teachers and school helped me get my foot in the door. I’m now looking back at over a decade of being a professional bass player. I have toured and recorded all over the world with a varied client list that includes Charli XCX, Guy Chambers, Hailee Steinfeld, Big Time Rush, blackbear, Matt Maltese, and Tom Bailey (The Thompson Twins). I have spent my career living in London, New York, and now Los Angeles.
I also have a passion for education; both teaching privately and also leading clinics and workshops at leading music colleges worldwide such as Musicians Institute, BIMM, and The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London. I’m also a guest writer at Bass Magazine.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think the nature of deciding to leave my home country has naturally thrown some challenges my way. The adjustment to being a new city has been huge each time; London, New York, and Los Angeles have totally different characteristics and music scenes. Since the industry is very ‘who-you-know,’ I had to spend a lot of time meeting new people in each place. Each city has a different attitude towards this kind of ‘hustle’ culture too, I found it more difficult to network in London. Networking never feels like ‘hustle’ to me—I’m not just doing it to find work, but because it’s amazing to find like-minded musicians that I connect with, musically and emotionally.
LA has felt like the most open and collaborative city I’ve lived in.
The music industry can be weird, so it’s good to feel a sense of community. There are struggles all professional musicians face—the unpredictable workload, the lack of work-life balance, the lack of benefits or safety nets—and I’m realizing the importance of having other musicians around you with whom you can have honest conversations. And of course, to celebrate the highs with too. The pandemic was of course another huge hurdle, so I’m over the moon to be touring again!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m working as a touring/live musician, playing bass, bass synth, and singing backing vocals. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy writing music and recording too, but at the moment, I tend to find myself mostly on the road or playing shows in Los Angeles.
I love that I get to travel for work—I recently did a tour in South America with Big Time Rush, a place I’d wanted to go for a very long time. Getting to tour there is something I’m proud of – as well as other places like Japan and Australia. Performing with Charli XCX in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as the sun was setting remains to be one of my favorite shows. Some other career highlights include performing on SNL, Letterman, at Glastonbury Festival, playing in Seth Meyers’ House Band, and performing with Big Time Rush at a sold-out Madison Square Garden show last year. I am about to embark on Big Time Rush’s ‘Can’t Get Enough’ summer tour – it will be my first time at The Forum so I’m looking forward to that.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
It affected the touring scene massively – I think we are all still recovering financially and emotionally! We really learned the lesson that nothing is ever guaranteed. A lot can change last minute within the music industry, so I had already learned to be flexible, but the pandemic sure did put that skill to the test! Having a wide range of skills and an eagerness to learn was an important lesson to take away from it all.
I think it was also a moment to challenge our identities – for so many of us, our careers are a huge part of who we are. I heard bassist Victor Wooten say in a live interview about remembering who we were when we put the bass down.
It’s safe to say, I never take shows, recording sessions, or in-person teaching for granted now!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sheplaysbass.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/
sheplaysbass - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
vickywarwickmusic/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/vicky_
warwick - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@she_
plays_bass - Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@she_
plays_bass
Image Credits
Reed Schick (image with orange/starburst) Eloise Campbell (b+w headshot) All other photos are by Aaron Gatewood
