April 14, 2021 • 24 mins
After a literal changing of his voice, John Vento has shifted gears with his new project.
With the task of producing and releasing a song a month, Vento's "Brick by Brick" album is building from the ground up. He has several singles out already, including "New Mexico Way" with an accompanying music video,
Vento's voice grew deeper in the past few years after a few incidents caused some damage to his vocal cords. A retrained voice and a new way of using it has given him a new sound and a new way to look at his music.
On top of this, Vento currently helps with an Autism charity "Band Together" out of Pittsburgh that does regular concerts and events.
We talked to Vento about his thought processes making music, his charity, and his goals in 2021.
With the task of producing and releasing a song a month, Vento's "Brick by Brick" album is building from the ground up. He has several singles out already, including "New Mexico Way" with an accompanying music video,
Vento's voice grew deeper in the past few years after a few incidents caused some damage to his vocal cords. A retrained voice and a new way of using it has given him a new sound and a new way to look at his music.
On top of this, Vento currently helps with an Autism charity "Band Together" out of Pittsburgh that does regular concerts and events.
We talked to Vento about his thought processes making music, his charity, and his goals in 2021.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey, what's up. This isSeth Green and you are listening to Somewhere
in Vegas with Mark and I amso hot. I would desperately like a
glass of water. Please please giveme some water. This is Cindy Preston
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(01:30):
Mark Pico's sexuality, but I knowyou're listening because somewhere live in Vegas.
Did you go, Mark, I'msorry, I thought you were I'm sorry.
Yeah, I'll attenden to get outof you. Hey. This is
Lance and Anna from Free Radio andAnna, and you're listening to somewhere in
(01:51):
Vegas. Yeah, my Fay.You know, that's that's usually what happens
with me. I go to Vegasand I get lost, and so I
end up somewhere in Vegas somewhere inVegas, but I just don't know where
it is quite sure. Yeah,we get ready. It's gonna be hot.
It's in Vegas. Check out partbe there or be Square. My
(02:15):
guest at this time is just absolutelybusy. He's in the middle of this
Brick by Brick project, which hasbeen, you know, going on roughly
a year. He has three singlesout. His first single that came out
this last year, Not Your Kindof Man, is already out. His
fall up to that last sunset's currentlyout right now. His new single is
(02:36):
New Mexico Way, which you guyscan check out the music video on YouTube
and download as well. I mean, it's crazy, career, it's crazy.
He has also got an event comingup in Pittsburgh for Band Together,
and we'll get into that in abit. On June eighteenth, here we
are, We got John Vento onwith us right now. How are you
doing? John? All right,my friend, thanks for having me.
How are you? I'm doing great. It's nice and sunny out here in
(02:59):
in Vegas, like we're getting intothe seventies, eighties, even the nineties.
Sometimes. How's it out there inPittsburgh? Today is a beautiful day,
but we certainly don't have that kindof weather. But my cousins just
recently moved to Las Vegas. He'sthe GM out of your new arena,
you know, he handles the hockeyteam and a lot of the concerts and
so on out in Las Vegas.My cousin Gregory, well, I have
(03:21):
I have tickets to tickets to goseege Garth, so hopefully, hopefully,
well it's been rescheduled I think forAugust, so you know, fingers crossed
at the stadium. We'll be outthere at the stadium watching Garth out there
play live. Fantastic, let's hope. So, I mean, we're all
praying to safely return to normal soonerrather than later. Yeah, I know,
I just got my first first postof the vaccine yesterday. You know,
(03:44):
I'm pretty sure everybody's about a prettypretty good amount of amount of people
have already gotten their shots. Sohopefully once the vaccines out, we can
go back to life performing you know, in smaller venues and inside all that
as well. So fingers crossed onthat as well. Quite a few things
going on with you. First,First of all, let's talk about you
know, it's autist ware in thismonth Band Together work is a great organization
(04:05):
that is there for autism awareness.And tell me a little bit about,
you know, the organization and howthat kind of came about, and you
know, you know some of thethings that you do. Well, thank
you for bringing that up, becausethat's where my heart really is. It
happened quite accidentally. I had somefriends with autistic children that were musically inclined,
(04:25):
and I invited them to sit inwith our band, the Needs Hotel
Band here in Pittsburgh, and ithas just taken off from there. A
venue owner, a moondog ron esser, saw these guys and I didn't even
know that he also had an autisticson, and the two of us launched
it. We launched Band Together Pittsburgh. We create music programs for folks on
(04:46):
the autism spectrum. We train themto become professional DJs. We have open
mics, we do professional video performances. We offer scholarship programs where we can
support them with lessons, instruments andanything that has to do with music.
We're involved with and it is justa wonderful organization. Folks can check us
(05:08):
out if they just google Band TogetherPittsburgh, they'll they'll see a lot of
stuff on our organization and we haveso many wonderful volunteers and a great board,
and everyone's in it for the rightreason, and that is to support
and help folks that are on theautism spectrum and see it. So see
(05:29):
the effects that your program has foryou know, for people on the autism
spectrum. I mean, how doesthat feel to you? And what's fun
The reaction to all of these thesekids and these people that have been part
of the program. It's magic,man, It's uh, We've created a
whole new family. There's so muchlove. This Sunday coming up April eleventh,
we have our first live open micin almost nine months, and or
(05:55):
we just can't wait to see everybodyin person and to enjoy their music.
And regardless of talent or experience,that's not what it's about. It's it's
a social environment and it's about connectingand just seeing the joy on their faces
and their families. It's just it'sthe number one thing in my life and
(06:15):
music. I mean, I lovecreating my own music and performing, but
Band Together is just number one atthe top of the list. Well,
great, great, and congratulations onthe success, and I hope they continued
success of that. Let's talk alittle bit about your music though, I
mean, I just I was justlistening to your your new single on that
as well. It's a nice mixof rock and a little bit of Springstein
(06:35):
in there with the Corset Country thecountry vibevideo as well. I mean,
you know, can I tell mefirst of all some of your influences growing
up? Well, my number oneinfluence is a guy named Harry Chapin.
You might be too young to knowhim, but that was my hero and
music. Harry Chapin with Kats inthe Cradle and had so many other great
songs. I especially admired him becauseof his work with charitable organizations. He
(07:00):
was on the presidential World Hunger Council, and he did so many other great
things that carry on to this day. Thirty nine years actually close to forty
years after his death. You know, he died young in a car accident.
Of course, I love Bob Seeger, and you mentioned Springsteen and Dylan
and those guys. But I alsolove and love motile music. So I
(07:25):
kind of like everything, man,I just I just like it all.
But I've had some voice problems overthe past two years, pretty significant surgeries.
So the newer stuff is in alower register and is a lot more
Americana with some you know, touchesof rock and roll in there. Let's
(07:45):
talk a little bit about that,I mean, the ability to adapt.
You know, I know a lotof music. Some musicians do have changes
in their voices. There's a there'sa famous story about UNDMC one under Rappers,
actually there is. For some oddreason, his register went down,
so they had to kind of youknow, you know, kind of good
overcome. That tell me a littlebit about that. Obviously, you know,
teenagers throw up, and especially boysand their registered drops as well.
(08:09):
But how's it. How's it beenit for you to kind of make that
transition over Well, for me,it kind of happened to two things occurred
at the same time. I hadsurgery on my kidney and in the this
is just a guess, but it'smost likely what occurred. You know,
when you have major surgery, theystick all those tubes down your throat,
right, and in that process,it's pretty clear that one of my vocal
(08:33):
cords was nicked. And then Ijust kind of carried on after that with
my shitty vocal technique and screaming andputting tremendous strain combined with my age,
and by January of two thousand andnineteen, I had no voice. I
was done totally. So in thesummer of nineteen nine surgery and that went
(08:54):
sideways. And it's just been along recovery period and as you mentioned,
the acceptance of a newer voice,it's kind of it's really like riding bike
all over again, learning the balance, learning what you can't do. Currently,
I go to voice lessons and singinglessons twice a week and then I
(09:16):
do other therapy in addition to that. So it's it's been a challenge,
but you know, the same storyyou told about run DMC and others.
To deal with it, you haveto adjust, you know, and just
and just try to move forward.And there's almost a growing process too,
just just you know. I guessthe best way to put it is find
(09:37):
your find your voice. Like forme, I'm finding my new voice,
new voice. Yeah, and youdon't really tell you the truth. I
mean, listening to the new songI think, I like, I like.
I haven't heard any of the oldermaterial, but I definitely like the
the sound, you know, Ithink the I don't think we get that
very much nowadays in music. Soyou know, I think it's it's great
(10:01):
to be able to have you know, that kind of kind of voice in
there as well. So I meanit's it's great to people to hear that
as well. How is that?How is it? And besides the fact
that you know, you had tokind of adjust the way that you sing,
how is that influenced your your songwriting? I mean, obviously you had
to probably lower some of the keysin terms of some of the songs that
you were thinking about, and youknow, tell me a little bit about
(10:22):
that process. Well, you know, that's a great question, and I
haven't thought about it. So you'regoing to allow me to verbalize the changes
that we've made that have just kindof you know, happened by osmosis Number
one, you were right, thekeys have to be lowered. Secondly,
my phrasing is approached differently. There'sno more that guttural stuff. You know.
(10:45):
Yeah, you know, I gotI have to back that all way
down. Also, I use backgroundvocalists more than ever. You'll hear touches
that in New Mexico way. Butin my next release on May first,
because I release a new original onthe first of every month, you're going
to hear a full blown choir.I would have really never approached that in
(11:05):
the past. You know, maybethere was a second harmony part, or
you know in the band we havea guy that has a higher voice and
you would maybe sing a harmony ontop of me. But now I'm way
more open minded to collaborative vocal approachesand it's it's actually opened up. I
think it makes the music more interestingin so many ways. When you're going
(11:26):
into a song, I mean,do you is it more funny that you
you kind of start from like thedrums and kind of work your way up
from melody and all that as well, or you know, do you have
lyrics in mind? Tell me alittle bit about process. Well, our
process, and I work exclusively withDavid Granadi, who is a great Pittsburgh
producer, multi instrumentalist. David isbest known because of his friendship with Eddie
(11:50):
van Halen, and he and hisbrother's toured with Van Halen in the early
eighties and of me maintained that relationship. But for us, I start with
a concept of musical concept. Sofor me, the music is always before
the lyrics, and the music drivesthe story or the content or the style.
(12:13):
So I'll go to like like NewMexico Way, for example, is
a little more pop. It hasa lot of traditional hooks in it.
And I went to Dave with justyou know, we talked about kind of
a basic rock and roll guitar drivensong. We then will pull examples,
you know, we steal if youwill, or borrow was actually what the
(12:35):
kids call it. Pardon me,I believe that the kids call up sampling.
Okay, sampling, but we don'tsample. But I know what you're
saying. I was watching The Sopranosof All Places, and you know,
they have some great music on thatshow, and a song came on I'd
never heard of, and I justlike the way it was approached, and
(12:58):
I brought it to Dave and said, listen to the style of this song,
and that's what opened up the wholething. And then as we started
to move forward with the music,that's when the lyrical content comes into play.
And I've been blessed with some greatcontributors and collaborators. That song,
New Mexico Way was probably done withindays. It all just fell together.
(13:22):
Typically, we struggle for every minuteof the month to finish the new track.
Because with Brick by Brick, Ithink there's a misunderstanding. I've had
a lot of people say to me, oh, you recorded thirteen songs and
you just released them to the worldeach month. That's not the case at
all. We create, We writeand record and fine tune and master a
(13:48):
new song every month. So it'sa little bit of pressure, I gotta
tell you that, but it's funwell with that in mind. I mean,
you know, usually I talked aboutorder of the album, but obviously
the album's not complete yet, Butjust looking at the previous month's song and
then going into this next month,do you have like an idea of what
(14:09):
type of song that you're looking forin order? You know, in this
you know, maybe it's a littlebit different than the last song, where
you see some elements in the lastsong that you kind of like, or
you know, how does that processwork? Well? Another great question,
brother, So the song that we'regoing to release on May one, we
just sent off to mastering today andit's a gospel song. It's gospel in
(14:30):
our style. It has the Americanof flair, and then it kicks into
a more traditional gospel choir because whenI was having my voice problems, my
beautiful wife is so faithful, andwe would go to church and she would
ask people to pray for me toheal and to get better, and she'd
say, no, if he getsbetter, he promised me he's going to
(14:50):
record a gospel song. So I'vekept my promise, and this one is
upbeat with big production. But we'vealready started on our June release and will
be a very stripped down acoustic songand it's going to be a tribute for
Father's Day, so you're you know, we think about those things we put
(15:11):
out, like three or four rockersin a row that a real upbeat,
high production, and then for June, we're going to strip it back down
to more of a kind of aJohn Denver type of groove, and the
elements might be acoustic guitar, bassand some soft drums and that's it.
So we do want to create ebband flow in the project. About how
(15:33):
many instruments do you know how toplay? Me? Zero, I'm just
beginning to learn the basics of piano, which is helping me with my voice
therapy. I write in my brainand in my heart, so I sing
my ideas to collaborators. You know, for example, David's a great guitar
player, and also I've got thismelody idea, and it's it kind of
(15:56):
goes like this and here's and He'llgrab an acoustic guitar and start strumming,
and you know, we just kindof get on the same page pretty quickly.
And I've been blessed to have thosekind of collaborators for the majority of
my work in music. I've beenvery lucky. But it's time for me
to take it another step. Andthat's why I'm integrating piano lessons and training
(16:22):
with my voice therapy. I mean, what was what was the life of
you the first time you were instudio and did you learn a lot from
from that process, and you know, going forward learning a lot from that.
Well, I can tell you itwas nineteen ninety seven and it was
the first time I was ever ina studio and the first time I was
singing original music, and it wasthe thrill of a lifetime. You know.
(16:45):
It's kind of like Foreigner's song feelslike the first time. I don't
think they were talking about the studioin their song, but it was just
magical and I think I've learned alot about the studio over these past ten
years to be more efficient, moreprepared, and to get the most out
of the technology that we have itat our disposal nowadays, it's just amazing.
(17:11):
But guess what we use real drums, real guitars, real bass players,
real singers. We use human beingsto create the music. So we're
really proud of that. Do yourecording part by part or do you know
sometimes put people together in a studioto do it simultaneously, And this project,
that's all part by part because we'reconstructing it as we go, hence
(17:34):
the name brick by brick. Sothe initial stages of the song is basic
chord progression with a click track,and that click track will create the tempo
and the kind of groove. Andthen once we get the song to the
point where we feel good about melodyand lyrics, then we'll begin to bring
in the players. We'll bring ina drummer, we'll bring in a keyboard
(17:56):
player, we'll bring in the backgroundvocalists. For this project, it is
truly constructed step by step. However, with my band, the needs hotel
band and that's n ETS, theneeds hotel band. Everything we record is
live as a group, So sevenguys go into the studio, we mike
(18:18):
it up, and we play becausewe are a performing band and and we
kind of been together for a whileand we want that feel and that vibe.
Yeah, I mean, how's how'sthe reaction been from from your fans
with this new project? It's beenreally great. I mean I've been pleased.
I have been humbled in many wayswith with the input that we've had.
(18:42):
And Michael Stober keeps me informed ofyou know, the Spotify stuff,
and we had thirty thousand views thefirst couple of weeks of the song called
high Wire, So you know,for an independent you know guy that's here
in Pittsburgh, PA. It's it'sbeen um, really fulfilling and really humbling.
And I give all the credit tothe folks I work with because I
(19:04):
you know, I'm a good quarterback, I'll take credit for that. As
a project manager, and I lendvoice to these ideas. The man that
the musicians and the co writers andDavid Granadi as producer is they're the guys
that bring my ideas to life.Well, I mean that's great to hear.
I mean, you know, it'sgonna be crazy about how many more?
(19:26):
How many more of these monthly tracksdo you think you're going to be
doing? Well? We're seven monthsin right now. I really hope the
answer is when I run out ofideas or I run out of energy.
But at this point I feel goodthat we'll have at least six or seven
more tracks. I think by thetime we roll around in November, Brick
(19:48):
by Brick the album will be completedand we're then going to release it as
a as a as an album ofwork. I was watching the watching the
video and it was really really Imean, it was really really cool.
And you know, we haven't beenseeing too many videos as obviously because of
the pandemic that's been going on.Tell me a little bit about you know,
(20:11):
uh, you know, producing avideo for this song, and I
mean, are we expecting some morevideos down the line? Every song will
have a video, absolutely, that'spart of the that's part of the release
of Brick by Brick. So wehave the song, you know, we
have the release download and so on, and there's an accompanying video. And
if you go to my website JohnVento dot com, there's a story about
(20:33):
how each song came to be andall the credits and all the lyrics.
I have been so blessed about ayear ago. A year ago a guy
named Jim Potulski came into my life. And Jim is the guy that is
creating and producing all of these videos. So each song is accompanied with a
(20:55):
video release, and as you said, it's a big investment of time and
money and creativity, and you know, you get one done and he's got
to start filming for the next onebecause it's it's a monthly release. How
funny? How fun is it foryou to do these videos? I really
love it, but I got totell you, my focus is on the
(21:18):
music, and sometimes you know,you're like, you know, I created
it, and I really let goof the videos. Jim. Jim creates
the concepts. I mean, he'lltell me, hey, let's do this,
let's do that, And of courseI have input because it's you know,
it's my project. But I'm again, I am so blessed and so
lucky to have real professionals on myteam. So but it's been fun.
(21:42):
This next one's gonna be cool,this song called let God Drive. And
next week we're gonna go to abig old church and bring in the choir
and film all that and it's gonnabe fun. Yeah. So you guys
can check out, you know,John Bendo dot com. But check out
where you can buy obviously all ofyour major all your major, all your
(22:03):
major you know, all your majorplaces where you get music. You guys
can definitely check that out as well. And I believe you know, obviously
you have social media. What's yoursocial media? I'm on Facebook, John
Vento Music, Instagram, John Ventoeven LinkedIn. What else is there?
I don't think I do the Twitterstuff. Haven't done that. Yeah,
(22:27):
I'm all in all all those places. YouTube by have the YouTube channel of
course, and if you go tomy website, John Vento dot com you'll,
you know, you'll get connected toeverything. Yeah. And again,
if you're in the Pittsburgh area,definitely check out one of these events for
a band together Pittsburgh. You guyscan go to their website. Just looking
up on Google, you'll be ableto find all their events as well,
(22:48):
and you know, check out someof the stuff that they're doing as well.
Anything else, anything else you wantto add, John, No,
I just appreciate the fact that yougo out of your way to support independent
artists, independent musicians. You know, I just want to thank you for
taking the time to have me ontoday, no problem at all, and
you know, hopefully you'll you'll beout back here on from Vegas soon,
(23:08):
maybe maybe either performing or whatever.But I have these visiting Yeah, and
if I do, I'll look youup because I know cousin Greg would love
to have you come out. Ohyeah, I mean I'm gonna be enjoying
that that the garth Brook concert inAugust if if everything goes right, so
fingers cross, I'm gonna I'm gonnakeep you in my prayers. Brother,
Okay, thanks so much, John, and hopefully we'll get you back on
(23:30):
so maybe a little bit later onthe year. Thank you for having me.
Have a great evening. You guyscan check us out on many of
your podcast in catchers, be atiTunes, be at Amazon, be at
iHeart Radio, and our home atsprigger dot com, among others. So
if you go to any of thosesites, please look up Somewhere in Vegas
(23:53):
and you'll be able to find usas well. Make sure to follow us
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Also our Instagram at s WIV podcast, and you guys can check out the
most episodes over on speaker dot com. Just look up for Somewhere in Vegas
and you'll be able to find someof the recent episodes that we've had on
the show, plus some a coupleof couple past ones as well, so
(24:17):
make sure you guys check this out. We usually do episodes every Monday and
Wednesday, depending on if our guestsshow up to their interviews, and sometimes
past couple of weeks we haven't hadthat opportunity, but just make sure you
guys subscribe and you could be ableto see when a new episode drops.
So it'll be once or twice aweek, but usually it'll be on Mondays
(24:37):
and Wednesday, so make sure youguys check that out as well. With
that in mind, we'll see youguys next time here on Somewhere in Vegas
Hey, what's up. This isSeth Green and you are listening to Somewhere
in Vegas with Mark and I amso hot. I would desperately like a
glass of water. Please please giveme some water. This is Cindy Preston
and I'm with Mark. I'm Somemarin, Vegas. Hi. This is Melissa
Peterman from CMPs to Singing d andthe television show for Youba and I have
(00:23):
to tell you I just have toget it off my chest. I love
Somewhere in Vegas with Mark. Hi. Here, this is Sath Glasgow and
Jimahaspita. You're listening in Mark.I'm Smarre in Vegas and you better watch
out. You know how to fundyou're noting? Hi. This is Shannon
Egan from whipp It and I loveSomewhere in Vegas. It's Mark. Hey,
this is Lee Allen Vegas. It'sSomewhere in Vegas. Talton was Mark
(00:46):
with a queue. This is CourtneyCronin. You're listening to Somewhere in Vegas
with your host Mark, and Iwould make sure to listen every week because
he's a shatbet. This is themoney Man, any money about two tickets
of Paradise and this you know what, it's somewhere in Vegas. What happens
in Vegas Space Vegas. Hi,this is Crystal Kale and I love Somewhere
in Vegas with Mark. Hi.This is Cherry Nunn from Berlin, and
(01:08):
you're listening to Mark somewhere in Vegas. Hi. This is Mirka Laurie from
Josh Veden Stallhouse. There are threeflowers in a vase and I'm listening to
Somewhere in Vegas with Mark. Hi. This is Aaron Hill and you are
listening to Mark on blog talk radioand somewhere in Vegas. Mark is a
great guy. Hi, this isPulaski. I'm still trying to figure out
(01:30):
Mark Pico's sexuality, but I knowyou're listening because somewhere live in Vegas.
Did you go, Mark, I'msorry, I thought you were I'm sorry.
Yeah, I'll attenden to get outof you. Hey. This is
Lance and Anna from Free Radio andAnna, and you're listening to somewhere in
(01:51):
Vegas. Yeah, my Fay.You know, that's that's usually what happens
with me. I go to Vegasand I get lost, and so I
end up somewhere in Vegas somewhere inVegas, but I just don't know where
it is quite sure. Yeah,we get ready. It's gonna be hot.
It's in Vegas. Check out partbe there or be Square. My
(02:15):
guest at this time is just absolutelybusy. He's in the middle of this
Brick by Brick project, which hasbeen, you know, going on roughly
a year. He has three singlesout. His first single that came out
this last year, Not Your Kindof Man, is already out. His
fall up to that last sunset's currentlyout right now. His new single is
(02:36):
New Mexico Way, which you guyscan check out the music video on YouTube
and download as well. I mean, it's crazy, career, it's crazy.
He has also got an event comingup in Pittsburgh for Band Together,
and we'll get into that in abit. On June eighteenth, here we
are, We got John Vento onwith us right now. How are you
doing? John? All right,my friend, thanks for having me.
How are you? I'm doing great. It's nice and sunny out here in
(02:59):
in Vegas, like we're getting intothe seventies, eighties, even the nineties.
Sometimes. How's it out there inPittsburgh? Today is a beautiful day,
but we certainly don't have that kindof weather. But my cousins just
recently moved to Las Vegas. He'sthe GM out of your new arena,
you know, he handles the hockeyteam and a lot of the concerts and
so on out in Las Vegas.My cousin Gregory, well, I have
(03:21):
I have tickets to tickets to goseege Garth, so hopefully, hopefully,
well it's been rescheduled I think forAugust, so you know, fingers crossed
at the stadium. We'll be outthere at the stadium watching Garth out there
play live. Fantastic, let's hope. So, I mean, we're all
praying to safely return to normal soonerrather than later. Yeah, I know,
I just got my first first postof the vaccine yesterday. You know,
(03:44):
I'm pretty sure everybody's about a prettypretty good amount of amount of people
have already gotten their shots. Sohopefully once the vaccines out, we can
go back to life performing you know, in smaller venues and inside all that
as well. So fingers crossed onthat as well. Quite a few things
going on with you. First,First of all, let's talk about you
know, it's autist ware in thismonth Band Together work is a great organization
(04:05):
that is there for autism awareness.And tell me a little bit about,
you know, the organization and howthat kind of came about, and you
know, you know some of thethings that you do. Well, thank
you for bringing that up, becausethat's where my heart really is. It
happened quite accidentally. I had somefriends with autistic children that were musically inclined,
(04:25):
and I invited them to sit inwith our band, the Needs Hotel
Band here in Pittsburgh, and ithas just taken off from there. A
venue owner, a moondog ron esser, saw these guys and I didn't even
know that he also had an autisticson, and the two of us launched
it. We launched Band Together Pittsburgh. We create music programs for folks on
(04:46):
the autism spectrum. We train themto become professional DJs. We have open
mics, we do professional video performances. We offer scholarship programs where we can
support them with lessons, instruments andanything that has to do with music.
We're involved with and it is justa wonderful organization. Folks can check us
(05:08):
out if they just google Band TogetherPittsburgh, they'll they'll see a lot of
stuff on our organization and we haveso many wonderful volunteers and a great board,
and everyone's in it for the rightreason, and that is to support
and help folks that are on theautism spectrum and see it. So see
(05:29):
the effects that your program has foryou know, for people on the autism
spectrum. I mean, how doesthat feel to you? And what's fun
The reaction to all of these thesekids and these people that have been part
of the program. It's magic,man, It's uh, We've created a
whole new family. There's so muchlove. This Sunday coming up April eleventh,
we have our first live open micin almost nine months, and or
(05:55):
we just can't wait to see everybodyin person and to enjoy their music.
And regardless of talent or experience,that's not what it's about. It's it's
a social environment and it's about connectingand just seeing the joy on their faces
and their families. It's just it'sthe number one thing in my life and
(06:15):
music. I mean, I lovecreating my own music and performing, but
Band Together is just number one atthe top of the list. Well,
great, great, and congratulations onthe success, and I hope they continued
success of that. Let's talk alittle bit about your music though, I
mean, I just I was justlistening to your your new single on that
as well. It's a nice mixof rock and a little bit of Springstein
(06:35):
in there with the Corset Country thecountry vibevideo as well. I mean,
you know, can I tell mefirst of all some of your influences growing
up? Well, my number oneinfluence is a guy named Harry Chapin.
You might be too young to knowhim, but that was my hero and
music. Harry Chapin with Kats inthe Cradle and had so many other great
songs. I especially admired him becauseof his work with charitable organizations. He
(07:00):
was on the presidential World Hunger Council, and he did so many other great
things that carry on to this day. Thirty nine years actually close to forty
years after his death. You know, he died young in a car accident.
Of course, I love Bob Seeger, and you mentioned Springsteen and Dylan
and those guys. But I alsolove and love motile music. So I
(07:25):
kind of like everything, man,I just I just like it all.
But I've had some voice problems overthe past two years, pretty significant surgeries.
So the newer stuff is in alower register and is a lot more
Americana with some you know, touchesof rock and roll in there. Let's
(07:45):
talk a little bit about that,I mean, the ability to adapt.
You know, I know a lotof music. Some musicians do have changes
in their voices. There's a there'sa famous story about UNDMC one under Rappers,
actually there is. For some oddreason, his register went down,
so they had to kind of youknow, you know, kind of good
overcome. That tell me a littlebit about that. Obviously, you know,
teenagers throw up, and especially boysand their registered drops as well.
(08:09):
But how's it. How's it beenit for you to kind of make that
transition over Well, for me,it kind of happened to two things occurred
at the same time. I hadsurgery on my kidney and in the this
is just a guess, but it'smost likely what occurred. You know,
when you have major surgery, theystick all those tubes down your throat,
right, and in that process,it's pretty clear that one of my vocal
(08:33):
cords was nicked. And then Ijust kind of carried on after that with
my shitty vocal technique and screaming andputting tremendous strain combined with my age,
and by January of two thousand andnineteen, I had no voice. I
was done totally. So in thesummer of nineteen nine surgery and that went
(08:54):
sideways. And it's just been along recovery period and as you mentioned,
the acceptance of a newer voice,it's kind of it's really like riding bike
all over again, learning the balance, learning what you can't do. Currently,
I go to voice lessons and singinglessons twice a week and then I
(09:16):
do other therapy in addition to that. So it's it's been a challenge,
but you know, the same storyyou told about run DMC and others.
To deal with it, you haveto adjust, you know, and just
and just try to move forward.And there's almost a growing process too,
just just you know. I guessthe best way to put it is find
(09:37):
your find your voice. Like forme, I'm finding my new voice,
new voice. Yeah, and youdon't really tell you the truth. I
mean, listening to the new songI think, I like, I like.
I haven't heard any of the oldermaterial, but I definitely like the
the sound, you know, Ithink the I don't think we get that
very much nowadays in music. Soyou know, I think it's it's great
(10:01):
to be able to have you know, that kind of kind of voice in
there as well. So I meanit's it's great to people to hear that
as well. How is that?How is it? And besides the fact
that you know, you had tokind of adjust the way that you sing,
how is that influenced your your songwriting? I mean, obviously you had
to probably lower some of the keysin terms of some of the songs that
you were thinking about, and youknow, tell me a little bit about
(10:22):
that process. Well, you know, that's a great question, and I
haven't thought about it. So you'regoing to allow me to verbalize the changes
that we've made that have just kindof you know, happened by osmosis Number
one, you were right, thekeys have to be lowered. Secondly,
my phrasing is approached differently. There'sno more that guttural stuff. You know.
(10:45):
Yeah, you know, I gotI have to back that all way
down. Also, I use backgroundvocalists more than ever. You'll hear touches
that in New Mexico way. Butin my next release on May first,
because I release a new original onthe first of every month, you're going
to hear a full blown choir.I would have really never approached that in
(11:05):
the past. You know, maybethere was a second harmony part, or
you know in the band we havea guy that has a higher voice and
you would maybe sing a harmony ontop of me. But now I'm way
more open minded to collaborative vocal approachesand it's it's actually opened up. I
think it makes the music more interestingin so many ways. When you're going
(11:26):
into a song, I mean,do you is it more funny that you
you kind of start from like thedrums and kind of work your way up
from melody and all that as well, or you know, do you have
lyrics in mind? Tell me alittle bit about process. Well, our
process, and I work exclusively withDavid Granadi, who is a great Pittsburgh
producer, multi instrumentalist. David isbest known because of his friendship with Eddie
(11:50):
van Halen, and he and hisbrother's toured with Van Halen in the early
eighties and of me maintained that relationship. But for us, I start with
a concept of musical concept. Sofor me, the music is always before
the lyrics, and the music drivesthe story or the content or the style.
(12:13):
So I'll go to like like NewMexico Way, for example, is
a little more pop. It hasa lot of traditional hooks in it.
And I went to Dave with justyou know, we talked about kind of
a basic rock and roll guitar drivensong. We then will pull examples,
you know, we steal if youwill, or borrow was actually what the
(12:35):
kids call it. Pardon me,I believe that the kids call up sampling.
Okay, sampling, but we don'tsample. But I know what you're
saying. I was watching The Sopranosof All Places, and you know,
they have some great music on thatshow, and a song came on I'd
never heard of, and I justlike the way it was approached, and
(12:58):
I brought it to Dave and said, listen to the style of this song,
and that's what opened up the wholething. And then as we started
to move forward with the music,that's when the lyrical content comes into play.
And I've been blessed with some greatcontributors and collaborators. That song,
New Mexico Way was probably done withindays. It all just fell together.
(13:22):
Typically, we struggle for every minuteof the month to finish the new track.
Because with Brick by Brick, Ithink there's a misunderstanding. I've had
a lot of people say to me, oh, you recorded thirteen songs and
you just released them to the worldeach month. That's not the case at
all. We create, We writeand record and fine tune and master a
(13:48):
new song every month. So it'sa little bit of pressure, I gotta
tell you that, but it's funwell with that in mind. I mean,
you know, usually I talked aboutorder of the album, but obviously
the album's not complete yet, Butjust looking at the previous month's song and
then going into this next month,do you have like an idea of what
(14:09):
type of song that you're looking forin order? You know, in this
you know, maybe it's a littlebit different than the last song, where
you see some elements in the lastsong that you kind of like, or
you know, how does that processwork? Well? Another great question,
brother, So the song that we'regoing to release on May one, we
just sent off to mastering today andit's a gospel song. It's gospel in
(14:30):
our style. It has the Americanof flair, and then it kicks into
a more traditional gospel choir because whenI was having my voice problems, my
beautiful wife is so faithful, andwe would go to church and she would
ask people to pray for me toheal and to get better, and she'd
say, no, if he getsbetter, he promised me he's going to
(14:50):
record a gospel song. So I'vekept my promise, and this one is
upbeat with big production. But we'vealready started on our June release and will
be a very stripped down acoustic songand it's going to be a tribute for
Father's Day, so you're you know, we think about those things we put
(15:11):
out, like three or four rockersin a row that a real upbeat,
high production, and then for June, we're going to strip it back down
to more of a kind of aJohn Denver type of groove, and the
elements might be acoustic guitar, bassand some soft drums and that's it.
So we do want to create ebband flow in the project. About how
(15:33):
many instruments do you know how toplay? Me? Zero, I'm just
beginning to learn the basics of piano, which is helping me with my voice
therapy. I write in my brainand in my heart, so I sing
my ideas to collaborators. You know, for example, David's a great guitar
player, and also I've got thismelody idea, and it's it kind of
(15:56):
goes like this and here's and He'llgrab an acoustic guitar and start strumming,
and you know, we just kindof get on the same page pretty quickly.
And I've been blessed to have thosekind of collaborators for the majority of
my work in music. I've beenvery lucky. But it's time for me
to take it another step. Andthat's why I'm integrating piano lessons and training
(16:22):
with my voice therapy. I mean, what was what was the life of
you the first time you were instudio and did you learn a lot from
from that process, and you know, going forward learning a lot from that.
Well, I can tell you itwas nineteen ninety seven and it was
the first time I was ever ina studio and the first time I was
singing original music, and it wasthe thrill of a lifetime. You know.
(16:45):
It's kind of like Foreigner's song feelslike the first time. I don't
think they were talking about the studioin their song, but it was just
magical and I think I've learned alot about the studio over these past ten
years to be more efficient, moreprepared, and to get the most out
of the technology that we have itat our disposal nowadays, it's just amazing.
(17:11):
But guess what we use real drums, real guitars, real bass players,
real singers. We use human beingsto create the music. So we're
really proud of that. Do yourecording part by part or do you know
sometimes put people together in a studioto do it simultaneously, And this project,
that's all part by part because we'reconstructing it as we go, hence
(17:34):
the name brick by brick. Sothe initial stages of the song is basic
chord progression with a click track,and that click track will create the tempo
and the kind of groove. Andthen once we get the song to the
point where we feel good about melodyand lyrics, then we'll begin to bring
in the players. We'll bring ina drummer, we'll bring in a keyboard
(17:56):
player, we'll bring in the backgroundvocalists. For this project, it is
truly constructed step by step. However, with my band, the needs hotel
band and that's n ETS, theneeds hotel band. Everything we record is
live as a group, So sevenguys go into the studio, we mike
(18:18):
it up, and we play becausewe are a performing band and and we
kind of been together for a whileand we want that feel and that vibe.
Yeah, I mean, how's how'sthe reaction been from from your fans
with this new project? It's beenreally great. I mean I've been pleased.
I have been humbled in many wayswith with the input that we've had.
(18:42):
And Michael Stober keeps me informed ofyou know, the Spotify stuff,
and we had thirty thousand views thefirst couple of weeks of the song called
high Wire, So you know,for an independent you know guy that's here
in Pittsburgh, PA. It's it'sbeen um, really fulfilling and really humbling.
And I give all the credit tothe folks I work with because I
(19:04):
you know, I'm a good quarterback, I'll take credit for that. As
a project manager, and I lendvoice to these ideas. The man that
the musicians and the co writers andDavid Granadi as producer is they're the guys
that bring my ideas to life.Well, I mean that's great to hear.
I mean, you know, it'sgonna be crazy about how many more?
(19:26):
How many more of these monthly tracksdo you think you're going to be
doing? Well? We're seven monthsin right now. I really hope the
answer is when I run out ofideas or I run out of energy.
But at this point I feel goodthat we'll have at least six or seven
more tracks. I think by thetime we roll around in November, Brick
(19:48):
by Brick the album will be completedand we're then going to release it as
a as a as an album ofwork. I was watching the watching the
video and it was really really Imean, it was really really cool.
And you know, we haven't beenseeing too many videos as obviously because of
the pandemic that's been going on.Tell me a little bit about you know,
(20:11):
uh, you know, producing avideo for this song, and I
mean, are we expecting some morevideos down the line? Every song will
have a video, absolutely, that'spart of the that's part of the release
of Brick by Brick. So wehave the song, you know, we
have the release download and so on, and there's an accompanying video. And
if you go to my website JohnVento dot com, there's a story about
(20:33):
how each song came to be andall the credits and all the lyrics.
I have been so blessed about ayear ago. A year ago a guy
named Jim Potulski came into my life. And Jim is the guy that is
creating and producing all of these videos. So each song is accompanied with a
(20:55):
video release, and as you said, it's a big investment of time and
money and creativity, and you know, you get one done and he's got
to start filming for the next onebecause it's it's a monthly release. How
funny? How fun is it foryou to do these videos? I really
love it, but I got totell you, my focus is on the
(21:18):
music, and sometimes you know,you're like, you know, I created
it, and I really let goof the videos. Jim. Jim creates
the concepts. I mean, he'lltell me, hey, let's do this,
let's do that, And of courseI have input because it's you know,
it's my project. But I'm again, I am so blessed and so
lucky to have real professionals on myteam. So but it's been fun.
(21:42):
This next one's gonna be cool,this song called let God Drive. And
next week we're gonna go to abig old church and bring in the choir
and film all that and it's gonnabe fun. Yeah. So you guys
can check out, you know,John Bendo dot com. But check out
where you can buy obviously all ofyour major all your major, all your
(22:03):
major you know, all your majorplaces where you get music. You guys
can definitely check that out as well. And I believe you know, obviously
you have social media. What's yoursocial media? I'm on Facebook, John
Vento Music, Instagram, John Ventoeven LinkedIn. What else is there?
I don't think I do the Twitterstuff. Haven't done that. Yeah,
(22:27):
I'm all in all all those places. YouTube by have the YouTube channel of
course, and if you go tomy website, John Vento dot com you'll,
you know, you'll get connected toeverything. Yeah. And again,
if you're in the Pittsburgh area,definitely check out one of these events for
a band together Pittsburgh. You guyscan go to their website. Just looking
up on Google, you'll be ableto find all their events as well,
(22:48):
and you know, check out someof the stuff that they're doing as well.
Anything else, anything else you wantto add, John, No,
I just appreciate the fact that yougo out of your way to support independent
artists, independent musicians. You know, I just want to thank you for
taking the time to have me ontoday, no problem at all, and
you know, hopefully you'll you'll beout back here on from Vegas soon,
(23:08):
maybe maybe either performing or whatever.But I have these visiting Yeah, and
if I do, I'll look youup because I know cousin Greg would love
to have you come out. Ohyeah, I mean I'm gonna be enjoying
that that the garth Brook concert inAugust if if everything goes right, so
fingers cross, I'm gonna I'm gonnakeep you in my prayers. Brother,
Okay, thanks so much, John, and hopefully we'll get you back on
(23:30):
so maybe a little bit later onthe year. Thank you for having me.
Have a great evening. You guyscan check us out on many of
your podcast in catchers, be atiTunes, be at Amazon, be at
iHeart Radio, and our home atsprigger dot com, among others. So
if you go to any of thosesites, please look up Somewhere in Vegas
(23:53):
and you'll be able to find usas well. Make sure to follow us
on Twitter at s WIV at swiv and Somewhere in Vegas on Facebook.
Also our Instagram at s WIV podcast, and you guys can check out the
most episodes over on speaker dot com. Just look up for Somewhere in Vegas
and you'll be able to find someof the recent episodes that we've had on
the show, plus some a coupleof couple past ones as well, so
(24:17):
make sure you guys check this out. We usually do episodes every Monday and
Wednesday, depending on if our guestsshow up to their interviews, and sometimes
past couple of weeks we haven't hadthat opportunity, but just make sure you
guys subscribe and you could be ableto see when a new episode drops.
So it'll be once or twice aweek, but usually it'll be on Mondays
(24:37):
and Wednesday, so make sure youguys check that out as well. With
that in mind, we'll see youguys next time here on Somewhere in Vegas
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