Viva Vertigo is the
brainchild of singer/songwriter Simon Beck who under the moniker Viva
Vertigo has put together a strong team of musicians to perform the songs
on his debut album. Viva Viva has been on the way for a long time since
Simon Beck cut the first demos on a 4-track recorder back in 1999.
The material grew from acoustic songs to a more rocking sound and things
progressed when Beck met Mick Grondahl (Jeff Buckley Band) who had recently
moved to Copenhagen. That shaped the idea of recording Simon Becks songs
with skilled musicians while maintaining an open band structure. A structure
that still exists today and enables Simon Beck to work with musicians
of his choice.
The songs on Viva Viva have a timeless quality to them and finds inspiration
in a
wide range of sounds from the 60's to the present. Viva Vertigo combine
upbeat
rockers like "Devilhead" and "Viva Viva" with melodic
baritone songs like "Jaguar
Tornado" with great ease and the album sounds cohesive although
the songs can be
everything from dreamy, shamelessly poppy tunes to right on guitar rock
with a
ghostrider touch. Becks background as a singer/songwriter shines through
but he is
not afraid of rocking out when necessary.
Viva Viva was recorded during 2002 at various nightly sessions at Sauna
Recording
Studio and Winther Wonderland in Copenhagen. Then the master was literally
left
under Simon Becks bed during 2003 where he among other things moved
to Los Angeles for awhile. But late last year it was finally time to
do something about the
recordings and Beck got in touch with Bad Afro who soon heard the potential
in Viva
Vertigo.
Viva Viva was recorded and produced by Sune Rose Wagner and mastered
by Flemming Hansson. The first single and video outtake from the album
is "Viva Viva (Edie Sedgewick)" and Viva Vertigo will be supporting
the release with live shows in
Denmark on through the spring. Live Viva Vertigo consists of Simon Beck
(guitar/Vocals), Sara Lewis Soerensen (guitars), Anders Wallin (bass)
and Troels Drasbech (drums).