Together: C’mon, C’mon! The Skies are Always Blue for Michael Vincent

Sky Blue (C’mon, C’mon!) is a continuation of the exciting new direction that Michael Vincent took when creating his previous album, Electric Fox!

It too includes some heavier rock influences, plus an exciting new Power Pop single, C’mon, C’mon! that celebrates the excitement of just grabbing your babe and jumping in the car for a fast drive to wherever!

It also includes an exciting back-story about Michael and rock legend Larry Norman’s brother Charles Norman, residing in Norway, collaborating on the more garage-rock-inspired version of C’mon, C’mon! that begins the album; then bookended by the ‘lighter’ breezier version done by the band at the album’s end!

Originally intended as a single; then an EP; the distributor thought it’d be a good idea for DJs to have more songs to choose from, so Michael included the remixes of 3 stand-out songs (Together; Fool, My Eye; and The Longest Time) from Electric Fox, where the mixes by Scott Warren this time around are off the charts ear-popping; and the redux of two previously recorded songs (Rain Downtown and Shadow Talk) that the band does an entirely unique arrangement to!

One final treasure was added to this new record – a song (Nightlights) that celebrates people being there for one another during difficult times (especially in these harsh times); and updated by Michael’s nephew, professional impresario of modern music, Jeff Jacoby from the wilds of Richmond, Virginia.

I sat down with Michael and we discussed everything from this new album and his latest musical listening acquisitions, on through to who gave him his first guitar and, oh yeah, penguins!

Being that Sky Blue is your eighth studio album, and includes your usual blend of eclectic indie rock, power-pop, garage, grunge and even folk-pop tracks, did your creativeness in the studio differ here on this new recording as opposed to your previous outputs? - “Only in one instance - the title track (C’mon, C’mon!) wasn’t the result of discovering a new chord or chord progression; this lead song was inspired by two pop songs I’d heard in a friend’s car - C’mon, C’mon! By One Direction and Where the Adventure Begins by Tim Halperin. The rest of the songs are either remixes from my previous album Electric Fox (as I wasn’t happy with the mixes on that album); or a complete redux to bring a long ago song into the 21st century; or two unique, very personal songs - This is Love, dedicated to my wife and performed at our wedding in 2016 - and Of the Promises - a spiritual effort I’d written back in the late 70s and recorded then, but was never released.”

Indeed, what were some of the biggest obstacles along the way to bringing this album to fruition and how did you overcome them? - “One, was that I had two different versions of the title track (C’mon, C’mon!) - one version I perform with my band (U No Who); and another which my good friend and fellow indie rocker Charles Normal (who now lives in Norway) had completely rearranged from the original (at my request, “...but only if you have time…”); to a much edgier arrangement. So one obstacle was trying to decide which version to have open up the album, since, on the one hand, the version that I do with my band, live, would be more familiar to fans and such, whereas the edgier version might have more relevance to current culture, and indeed might attract a younger crowd. I chose the latter.”

“Other obstacles around that song was timing, as Charles Normal lives in Norway; and I had to Redo my initial rough vocals from when I visited back in May of last year; and recorded them in our lead guitarist, Scott Warren’s studio, as opposed to Wind River Recording out of Santa Cruz.”

“Lastly, there were obstacles of trying to make sure my selection of songs was a good match for one another on the same record; AND making sure there wouldn’t be any mastering issues around such varied songs. This was overcome by enlisting band mates, the mastering lab, and fans, as-to their thoughts around it all. Very helpful.”

As for the album, being known worldwide for your eclectic compilations, can you please explain just how you have managed to keep such a fire burning within you over the years for creating such content continually alive; in the context of how your songs come together, both thematically and musically - “Well, I’ve said over the years that since I don’t listen to only one type of music, why in the world would I only make one kind of music? ‘The’ band that had managed to do that over the years was, of course, The Beatles - who wrote everything from Mother Nature’s Son to Revolution! Of course, they had four songwriters; but I loved that when a new song came out, while it was clear by their style that it was The Beatles, the new songs themselves were as different as one could possibly imagine.”

“I get my energy for writing from two main sources - one, discovering a new chord or a new chord progression that I’ve never used before, as it invariably ‘speaks’ to me immediately, and I can already ‘hear’ that “there’s a song in there!” The second source is listening to other artists of all different genres, ages, eras, and so-on; and invariably something will inspire me to write something with a similar ‘feel’, without succumbing to the temptation to copy what that other artist has done.”

“For instance, the song Rain Downtown on this album was originally inspired by Counting Crows song Color Blind, even though Rain Downtown sounds nothing like Color Blind - it’s a ‘feel’ thing, and to me, anyway, Rain Downtown has a similar feel that inspired me to write it.”

Indeed, a lot of words and terms have already been used to describe your music over the years, but how would you yourself sum up your sound on this new album ... and in just five (5) words? - “Everything but the kitchen sink!”, he laughs.

Who was the very first person to put a guitar in your hand, what was the first song you were taught, and to this day which is the one song you still cannot completely master perfectly on the guitar (and why)? - “My older brother Victor Hollingshead did the ‘hand-me-down’ thing with his first guitar - a Montgomery Ward Airline that he gave me to me for Christmas one year after he’d sought out a more professional brand. He lived in San Francisco then, and I lived in San Jose; and he’d drive down or I’d drive up to the City and show him the progress I’d made on the chords and easy songs he’d taught me; and then he’d give me some more chords to work on.”

“There isn’t really ‘one’ song I can’t master on guitar - there’s a slew of them, and they’re mostly songs that have what’re known as ‘claw’ chords in them, that I’ve somehow never been able to make my hands/fingers stretch well enough to execute those songs.”

“As it is, I consider myself an ‘adequate’ guitarist (barely, even), and even an adequate vocalist; but I seem to excel more at songwriting, AND I’m very proficient at ‘creating’ new voices for chords, even without knowing what the chord is, when I play them in multiple tunings. I learned this from a dear friend and fellow singer/songwriter Kathryn Tracy Adams some years ago, as she was very heavily influenced by Joni Mitchell’s jazz progressions on guitar, especially as Joni expressed a love for using the strummed chords on her guitar as if they’re parts of an orchestra.”

“Kate and I both have that affinity in our writing and put it to good use over the years. I’m always astonished when (what I call) ‘real’ guitarists I wind up playing with, tell me, “Do you know that chord you’re playing (in DADGAD tuning, for instance), is a C#-minor (or whatever)? And the answer is, “no…I didn’t know that…” and will almost immediately forget about it, too; as the mechanics of it all doesn’t interest me; only whether what I’m playing ‘sounds’ good and/or unique.”

Please tell us (in a couple of sentences or less) a little more about what these tracks noted below mean to you and how they came to be:

C’mon, C’mon - “After writing lots of ‘important’ songs about relationships, politics, social justice; I decided “I reeeally want to write a pop song about grabbing your baby, jumping into the car, and driving fast down the highway to who-knows-where - just for fun!” Period.”

Shadow Talk - “This is written almost immediately after a very bad date with a woman I initially thought was very nice when we met, but when we went out, she was constantly negative about everything around us -in the room, outside, the coffee, whatever. This drove me nuts, and I almost walked, but I decided to have some ‘fun’ with it, and every time she said something negative, I just kept coming up with weird (not rude, just weird) commentary to keep myself entertained!”, he laughs.

Nightlights - “This song means a lot to me, as I wrote it for a wonderful group of people at a little very liberal church I’d started attending, after making my way out of a fundamentalist religious group. The process was excruciating, and I often wrestled with depression in the process, but these folks were great in being there for me, and encouraging me not to give up my faith practice, despite ‘losing my religion’, as the song goes.”

The Longest Time - “I wrote this in the midst of spell of writer’s block. I could not come up with anything, it seemed; so, I just went back to my personal catalog of songs, and found one that had similar chords to the song that would become The Longest Time, and began strumming and coming up with a melody (which’s invariably what always comes first). The lyrics are pretty much about anyone’s existential struggles in life, but in the end, Love is what saves us - what ‘spares’ us, even, of more agonizing over things than we have to.”

And was Sky Blue always going to be the albums name or was there another that nearly won the race come the time to take your hands off the project? - “No, the original title of the album was to be C’mon, C’mon!, and I wanted it to be a really hip, really cool album that had both an edge to the songs as well as significant accessibility so people would also enjoy playing it. The original artwork for the cover was done by a fan on Facebook who used AI to execute it, and though I didn’t really care for what they’d come up with, entirely, I did like the ‘spirit’ of their efforts; so when I hired an actual graphic artist who co-created the cover with me, and the front cover was me below a sky of blue (my favorite color), I renamed the album Sky Blue (C’mon, C’mon!).”

Being that we’re not called Exclusive Magazine for nothing, is there a hidden message, a secret notation or an easter egg to be found amongst all the tracks assembled for this recording? - “Yes, several - one of which I’ve shared with you already - namely Charles Normal’s arrangement of C’mon, C’mon! - and that he’s the brother of one of my favorite rock artists of all time - Larry Norman (whom fans used to affectionately refer to as Larry Normal).”

“Nightlights is a redux of a prior version, that I’m ‘hoping against hope’ to get into a major motion picture - preferably about a kids’ theme, as I was dealing with family of origin issues when I wrote it. Of the Promises is a flashback to my past as a one-time singer/songwriter for a Jesus hippie band - and though I’m no longer theologically conservative as I was in those days, I still have a very deep spiritual side, and exercise it even as a retired Social Work Chaplain among the homeless and mental health communities for some 27+ years.”

What are some of the last albums (CD, vinyl, cassette, et al) you physically purchased (vintage and/or new releases) and which one have you already gone back to listen to more and why? - “Rocket to Russia - The Ramones - just cause it’ll rock your socks off - just pure ‘spirit’ and essence of rock and roll! Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia - The Dandy Warhols - fresh, energetic, edgy, reality-based rock that to me has BOTH a real punk feel to it, AND a real pop feel that just makes me wanna dance!”

“Jazz - Queen - again, great, great outlandish push-you-to-the-wall energy! The Crane Wife - The Decemberists - great feel that’s akin to one of my fav bands, The Fruit Bats. Yankee Hotel Fox Trot - Deathcab for Cutie - very atmospheric, and with great hooks! (to me). Let the Day Begin - The Call - has an awesome spiritual side to it, and reminds me of U2.”

What would you like all the readers of this interview to know about the new album and what to expect? - “Expect the unexpected!” maybe? While a LOT of my albums are typically eclectic, this one having two versions of the same song, is unique, for me; and the timespan is from nearly every era of my songwriting. And this one, I think, has more than one song on it that, according to one fan that I’ll quote, here, “has wings”!”

And yes, we ask everyone we interview this very same question (as we are putting together a kid’s book). We here at Exclusive Magazine love Penguins and so we were wondering if you had any love for them and/or had a story of one (soft toy, zoo, chocolate bar, relative, etc.) that you could share with us? - “I’ve never met a penguin up close; but I love the penguin kids book where they’re two male penguins taking care of a penguin egg; and the recent movies about a penguin - My Penguin Friend, and The Penguin Lessons - went to see them both and just loved ‘em!”

And finally, we asked Michael to kindly provide a never-before-seen photograph of himself. One that perfectly personified their readiness for the world to hear his new musical endeavor. And kindly, this is what he sent.