Vanilla Sugar

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Composed of Keyboards, Intense Beats, and live Guitar, Vanilla Sugar is definitely one of a kind. Hailing from Los Angeles, CA.

Interview conducted on October 27, 2020

By Dan Locke

Vanilla Sugar brings high energy to the stage and delivers an eclectic mix of genres into her songwriting.

How did you discover music?

My dad is a drummer; I feel like I was born into it. My grandfather was a trumpet player, and my grandmother was a singer and piano player as well. My dad also sings and took piano lessons when I was super little, and I too, enrolled in piano lessons with his instructor when I was four.

How did you start to write music?

I played a lot of music written by classical composers for a while. When I was about 10, I started writing music of my own. I remember my first song was called “Misty Trees”. It was literally about trees I saw on my way to school in the fog. Haha!

How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it?

My dad bought me my first guitar when I was 12 for Christmas. I love it! It’s a Fender Strat, and I still have it and play it now. It’s a great sounding guitar and I couldn’t put it down. It was such a great feeling to have my very own guitar!

What was your first performance at like?

The first time I played guitar, I laid it down across my lap. So funny. But I eventually enrolled in guitar lessons as well and have become a better player. My first show was my junior high school talent show. My band was called “Star Tongue Dada” at the time. I was sooo excited and nervous. We won the event, which was awesome!

What makes a good songwriter?

For me, I appreciate a catchy melody or hook, and I like for the song to sound original; not cookie-cutter, if you will. I think a good songwriter knows how to blend both of those aspects into the song they are writing.

What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?

The first original that I completed from start to finish is a song called, “Sorry”. I recorded it at a friend’s house back in 2005 which seems not so long ago when you say it out loud, but it was very long ago! That was the first song that I did vocals on, as I didn’t think I would be a singer back then. We couldn’t find a vocalist at the time, so I just stepped in. Funny enough, an old friend just messaged me yesterday that he found a copy. I would love to listen to it now, haha.

How did you start the band?

I started Vanilla Sugar in Houston, Tx on an iMac and a midi controller. I wanted to write music that combined all the genres that I liked to listen to.

How did you get your name?

I wanted my music to be essentially my name, but not directly. My nickname is JP Vanilla. I thought Vanilla Sugar would be a great representative, as Vanilla is from my last name and Sugar from the term “kitty sugar”…feel free to google that when you are not at work…It makes me giggle. Haha. I also wanted something that sounded safe, feminine, and sweet; yet the songs are so aggressive and heavy.

How was the Van Warped Tour?

That was the most fun festival tour of my life! There was such a big crowd of open-minded people and I made a lot of new friends. The merch line was 2 hours long after the set. I ended up losing my voice talking to everyone, but it was so worth it!

Are you going to miss it?

I will definitely miss it, and I sure hope it returns!!

Tell me about your new album?

My latest release is my debut album, She! I love it so much – a lot of blood, sweat, and glitter were put into this album. It has 10 tracks of crazy synth-based, pop-influenced music, with a hint of hard rock. I call it Horrorpop. The new album covers a range of different emotions, vibes, and situations. It’s things that I have been through and things that I dream about.

What is This Dark Place about?

ThisDarkPlace is the first single from my new album, “SHE”. It’s me vs. myself scenario, where I confront the darker part of me. The part that represents, sadness, depression, insecurities, etc. The video is out on Youtube and Facebook now. It was a lot of fun to put together and watch come to life.

What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?

I decided to use this time to get to know my fans more. I have live streams every week across all different platforms so I can interact with everyone in any time zone. On Mondays at 7 pm PST, I live stream video games on Twitch! That is super fun; we are all able to chat and hang out virtually. On Thursday nights at 7 pm PST, I host an “Ask Me Anything” session on Facebook and Instagram Live. We talk about whatever comes to mind! On Saturdays at 1:30 pm PST, I livestream a cooking show on Youtube and Twitter. Fans can suggest a dish they would like for me to make and I create a gluten-free and vegan version of it. That has been pushing me to become a better cook for sure. I am trying all kinds of new recipes.

I see that you are doing a lot with Gluten Free/Veggies. What is your favorite food and how do you make it?

Yes! Yum.. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Celiac Disease in 2013. It really changed my world. If I eat anything with gluten, I have a horrible reaction and could possibly die. I have found myself in the hospital hooked up on morphine at least twice since I have been diagnosed. I am so sensitive that if I even touch gluten, I break out! I had to change my diet to all gluten-free dishes. Most of the packaged gluten-free foods I have found taste like cardboard and are just not great. They do NOT taste like the real thing. I wanted to start creating my own food from scratch so that maybe it would taste better. I also have found that a majority of vegan meals I have had from the grocery store, or going out to restaurants, haven’t been that great. I decided that I would cook with scratch ingredients and make gluten-free and vegan foods so good that even someone who ate meat and gluten wouldn’t be able to tell the difference! My favorite dish that I have made would have to be Eggplant Parmesan. SOOOOO good and easy to make! You slice up eggplants, batter, and bake them. Then you sort of create an eggplant lasagna, but instead of layering noodles, you layer eggplant, with marinara sauce and vegan mozzarella cheese in between each layer. Delicious!

What is going on with the Birthday Massacre tour?

I am looking forward to this tour so much. I can’t wait to play live again! The original tour was spanning across the US and the UK. Both legs of the tour were postponed once, and then the US leg got cancelled and the UK leg was postponed again to July and August of 2021. I hope to also be able to reschedule the US dates as soon as it is safe to do so. I grew up listening to The Birthday Massacre, so this tour really is such a treat. It will also be my first time outside of America.

Anything you would like to say in closing.