{"id":19635,"date":"2014-01-12T17:24:19","date_gmt":"2014-01-12T06:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=19635"},"modified":"2014-01-13T20:50:30","modified_gmt":"2014-01-13T09:50:30","slug":"brant-bjork-of-vista-chino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2014\/01\/brant-bjork-of-vista-chino\/","title":{"rendered":"Brant Bjork of Vista Chino"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201c\u2026even being in this age of information it\u2019s very difficult to change the name, to rebrand as they would say I guess, it\u2019s very difficult to do that. As much as we sometimes would not like to believe there\u2019s not a lot of weight in a name, for a lot of people there is.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Kyuss Lives! were forced to change their name by a federal court judge in August of last year, there was only one option for a replacement \u2013 Vista Chino. \u00a0Vista Chino is the main arterial road leading to and through the band\u2019s home of Palm Springs, California, where Kyuss originated over 25 years ago. Drummer and producer Brant Bjork suggested it to long-time cohort, vocalist John Garcia, who immediately understood that the moniker represented the ultimate personification of their roots.\u00a0 The road from\u00a0Kyuss Lives!\u00a0to the recording and release of Vista Chino\u2019s triumphant new album, Peace<\/em>, has been a journey to hell and back for the reunified group featuring original members Bjork and Garcia alongside adopted Belgian-born guitarist Bruno Fevery. The resulting album is one that is sure to satisfy even the most diehard fan. Peace<\/em> remains true to the groove-laden desert sound and indelible spirit that has made Kyuss one of the most revered heavy rock bands of the past two decades.<\/p>\n

At home in Venice, California we chatted to Brant from Vista Chino about their upcoming Big Day Out performances as well as the rebranding of the band from Kyuss Lives! to Vista Chino, as well as their message and predictions for the year\u2026<\/p>\n

You’re heading to Australia as part of the Big Day Out festival, what can people expect should they come and watch your set on the day?<\/strong>
\nOh well you know, *laughs* I always find myself struggling to answer that question, but we\u2019re gonna rock, we\u2019re just gonna do what we do, we\u2019re gonna rock and we\u2019re going to be playing a lot of material off of the new record of course, but we\u2019re going to just do what we\u2019ve always done and just bring the rock.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been to Australia previously including last year with Kyuss Lives! Do you have a great memory of a previous tour you can share with us?<\/strong>
\nOh I\u2019ll tell you man, and I\u2019m not just saying this, and I\u2019ve been down to Australia a few times over the years, and every experience I\u2019ve had has been wonderful, it\u2019s one of my favourite places to play, being from Southern California I feel that I just have a connection and understanding with Australia and it\u2019s always positive man, it\u2019s always a good time, so I\u2019m looking forward to it.<\/p>\n

Your debut album \u2018Peace\u2019 was released late last year, when creating it did you have a clear vision for how you wanted it to sound, or did it evolve into what it became?<\/strong>
\nWell like any record I\u2019ve done in the past, and I\u2019ve done more than a few\u2026 you always have an idea of what you want to accomplish and you always have somewhat of a destination you want to arrive at, and then you get in the studio and you just kind of roll with it and what you come up with is what you come up with and that\u2019s part of the beauty and the magic and fun of making records. I had a tight and simultaneously loose agenda for the VC record as producer and for me they\u2019re making records over the years I\u2019ve just learned to kind of say \u2018alright you can do whatever you want but you can only do it in this particular place\u2019 *laughs* and that particular place for me was more of a celebration in going into the roots of the music that originally inspired us. Rock music of course, jazz, blues, really going deeper into those things, where it might have been Sabbath when we were kids, this time we\u2019re going for more along the lines of Cream or The Yardbirds or if it were jazz getting into more those Thelonious Monk elements. We love Hendrix but we\u2019re going back deeper into the roots of the things that we love you know.<\/p>\n

With the rebranding and regrouping as Vista Chino, what did you see as the biggest challenge in doing that?<\/strong>
\nThe biggest challenge was, even being in this age of information it\u2019s very difficult to change the name, to rebrand as they would say I guess, it\u2019s very difficult to do that. As much as we sometimes would not like to believe there\u2019s not a lot of weight in a name, for a lot of people there is. I\u2019ll tell you something, man, the name change was fascinating for me, I learned a lot through it and I learned how people react to names, and that\u2019s a whole other conversation, but to answer your question I think it\u2019s just that a lot of people don\u2019t know, don\u2019t know that the band changed the name and one of the beautiful continual things that I experienced this year was like playing to a crowd, having a great show and having one or two people come up and saying \u2018fuck man, what a fuckin fantastic show, it was awesome, and I\u2019ve gotta be honest, I showed up tonight because I thought you guys were going to be a rad hip hop band, I had no idea it was Kyuss, fuck!\u2019 and I\u2019ve heard that more than a few times, but it was a real testament to all the fans that did come out and see the shows\u00a0 and it showed you how loyal those fans are and how in touch with the situation to be able to understand that a band changes their name and still participate, that was the positive element to that for sure.<\/p>\n

So I guess it\u2019s somewhat more of a re-education that anything?<\/strong>
\nYeah, it really is, there\u2019s two perspectives on it, there\u2019s one of a creative entity and there\u2019s one of like I always say, it\u2019s the music business, there\u2019s the musical element to the name and the business element, and that\u2019s the beef right there, that\u2019s there\u2019s just conflict in the business element you know. Yeah, it makes it very difficult to go out and do business when you change your name, people just don\u2019t know, you know?<\/p>\n

With everything that went on was there ever a time when you thought you should quit or was there never a doubt and you\u2019d always keep going?<\/strong>
\nNo man, I never thought I would quit, music is my passion, it\u2019s my love and nobody gets to decide if I play music or not. I never thought of quitting ever, it\u2019s just was having to go through that conflict and experience was just an element of us accepting the challenge and taking the path less travelled of putting the band back together, and I\u2019ll be quite honest, I\u2019ll be honest in saying I knew there most probably going to be a beef with that, but I didn\u2019t want to shy away from something that I thought would be an awesome adventure and look back in twenty years and think \u2018oh fuck I didn\u2019t do that\u2019 because I feared that some other outside sources were going to give me a hard time, I can\u2019t live with that shit man. You go forward, you accept the challenge, you walk the path and then you deal with the consequences you know?<\/p>\n

So do you in fact play any of the Kyuss songs live or do you shy away from those?<\/strong>
\nWell you can play any music live, I mean, we can come down there and play sixty minutes of Jimi Hendrix songs if we want to\u2026 you can do whatever you want live, and we do, we do celebrate a handful of the Kyuss songs, to us it\u2019s all the same adventure and we\u2019re not in denial of the fact that that\u2019s where we were born in terms of being recognised in the rock world was in Kyuss, and of course that\u2019s the origin was all about. We know that the fans enjoy the songs and come out to see them live, especially the younger generation, but we simultaneously and honestly are more excited to get into the newer material that we made, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing, we\u2019re loading the set up with the new material and really expanding and dragging into that, so it\u2019s kind of two things happening at once, you know?<\/p>\n

Is there a message you want to get out with the band?<\/strong>
\nI mean a message, I think the message for me is always one of like, I don\u2019t know what the specific message will be, I think for me it\u2019s always been the same for me when I was a kid making music, which is to evoke that feeling in the listener that I got when I was younger and still get today, which is one of inspiration of a liberating vibe. I want the listener to have the different experience of seeing the band perform or the experience of listening to the record and feel a sense of freedom, to feel liberated, to feel a new sense of like the courage to do whatever it is they need or want to do, you know. That to me is what it\u2019s about.<\/p>\n

So, maybe somewhat of an escape?<\/strong>
\nMaybe it\u2019s an escape, maybe it\u2019s a fantasy but maybe it\u2019s a reality too, it depends\u2026<\/p>\n

2014 has just begun, so let\u2019s predict the future. By the end of 2014, Vista Chino will\u2026<\/strong>
\n*laughs* By the end of 2014 Vista Chino will be preparing for 2015 *laughs*<\/p>\n

Essential information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From: <\/strong>Los Angeles, California, USA<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong>\u00a0 John Garcia – lead vocals, Bruno Fevery \u2013 guitar, Brant Bjork \u2013 drums, Mike Dean – bass<\/p>\n

Latest Release:<\/strong> Peace \u2013 Out Now (3Wise records)<\/p>\n

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Website:<\/strong> \u00a0http:\/\/www.vistachinomusic.com<\/a><\/p>\n