I got the very nice and privileged chance to ask the creator and the man behind Vinnie Who, Niels Bagge, some questions. I hope you all get something out of it. I know I did.

How did you start Vinnie Who?

I started VW as a side job to 2 other bands, I played in earlier. Back then I had no intentions of that it was VW that should take all my time and energy. It was more thought as a playground, where I could get “afløb” to a lot of creative energy, that didn’t fit in with the other constellations I was a part of. But I did quickly experience that VW was a universe where I felt 100% home and I was really attracted to also, and after the first liveshow I didn’t have any doubt, that it was VW that I was ment to do on fulltime.

What do you do, when you are not focused on VW?

I have to admit that almost everything I do and think about, is about VW, eventhough I lately also have given myself the time to watch about of Tour De France and enjoy the summer weather.

Any artists you look up to and who can be found in your music, like painters, authors ect.?

I look up to a lot of artists. There might be plenty of them, whom I unproved and indirict get inspired of and has gotten inspired of through of the time, and therefore has the artists in a way, made me who I am as an artist. But when I make melodies, it comes from an impulsive inner source, that is unique, I think.

It’s easier to talk about direct inspirationsources compared to the production and the sound in my songs, where I openly on my debut record are inspired by disco.

What was the first gig you ever played, and what was the first instrument you got?

I grew up in a home with a lot of instruments, so they have always been available to me. The first instrument I bought myself, was a Roland keyboard with helicoptor sounds and lots of cool effects. I used a lot of time with that, and I got paino lessons also.

My first real gig var at a place called “Badeanstalten” in Slagelse, DK. I played with my ald post rock band, and was about 16 years old. I remember the gig very clearly; how i couldn’t control either the voice or the guitar, because I had so much adrenalin in the body. That was a wicked feeling. I would like to  experience that feeling again.

When did you know that music was the way for you?

As a kid I loved to play/build lego (and I still do). Therefore I wanted to be a lego-inventor. Like those one who invents the models you buy in a toystore like Fætter BR.

When I started playing in a band and take the music very seriously, I dreamt about becomming a musician and songwirter

Which artists/bands would you listen to when you are happy, sad and angry?

I don’t have any favourittes according to my moods, but of course my mood affect what kind of music I listen to. I love to listen to Man In The Mirror when Im drunk, happy and with the boys from the band.

Any newcomers you would like us to keep an eye on?

I think that Freja Loeb, who played at Pavillion Junior at Roskilde Festival this year, is really cool!

Tell us, what do you do on a normal day?

I try to be in the studio as much as possible, that is where I feel in the right element. I love the creationprocess. It gives me a really lovely life confirming kick to creat something. So I go to the studio often, after I have been drinking a bucket of coffee at home. Sometimes Im forced to go to a lot of boring meetings, but generaly my day is centered about VW, and preferably in the studio.

And just before we end this, tell us something about yourself, do you have any scars or something like that, and how did you get them?

I actually think that I have plenty of ugly, ugly scars around on my body.. One of them sits on my right thigh, and comes out of a meeting with a very sharp edge in a hectic moment under a changeover. The damage happened under an early VW concert. I was really stressed out about how fast that kind of a changeover has to go, and therefor I forgot to look where I was. I actually ruined my favourite pair of jeans at the same time, which still, that day today, feels like an open wound on my body.. Auch!

//Julier

Photo by Lasse Dearman