“Goodbye My Love” Out Now!

Toronto indie-rockers Vicky von Vicky are back with “Goodbye My Love,” their third release of 2023. The track’s rock-heavy chord progressions and upbeat tempo are the perfect foil to tender, heartsick lyrics that serve as an ode to a lover already on their way out the door. Perfect for fans of Pixies, The Velvet Underground, or REM, the band’s sound is a nostalgic blend of classic rock and late 20th century pop — with a unique, irresistible modern twist.

First formed from the ashes of Kingston group Trains of Winter in the late 1990s, the four-piece released two albums before going on hiatus in 2001. Nearly two decades later, in 2019, Vicky von Vicky made their long-anticipated return to the Toronto music scene, carving out their own niche with a distinct style that draws inspiration from a variety of genres, including punk, grunge, soul, and hip-hop. It’s an approach that works and is largely tied together by the strong storytelling characteristic of their whip-smart lyricism.

“Back in May of 2020, I lost my full-time job to cuts that were Covid related,” Wynn explains. “Shortly over the next couple of days I wrote four or so songs. ‘Goodbye My Love’ was one of them. I go back to the Springsteen style of song-writing here, where you develop characters and a story, largely fictional, that is partially drawn from personal experiences. I usually like to put some sort of twist on it too, like the Pixies would. And for myself, somewhat ironically, when it comes to writing ‘happy-pop’ songs I tend to go the ‘breakup song’ route.”

Wynn knew ‘Goodbye My Love’ was something special, so he presented it, along with the other songs he’d penned, to the rest of the band. The group was blown away and set out to record it, enlisting Nixon Boyd of Hollerado fame to produce the tracks. They soon laid down most of the recordings, working primarily at Nixon’s new Simcoe Mechanical studio in Orillia, before putting finishing touches on vocals and guitars at Nixon’s Toronto-based Banquet Sound space.

The finished song is Vicky von Vicky to the core — the track is catchy, intimate, and addictive, ultimately driven home by rich vocals and a hook that will be stuck in your head for days. “Goodbye My Love” is a must-listen for fans of alternative music, proving that this band is one of Toronto’s rising stars.

Stream it on your favourite streaming service here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/vickyvonvicky/goodbye-my-love

On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4RrdljyvSzbFkL4VfNWoyc?si=87997f4ba4eb4648

On Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/album/goodbye-my-love-single/1712437834

On Amazon: https://music.amazon.ca/albums/B0CLTBF3D5?marketplaceId=ART4WZ8MWBX2Y&musicTerritory=CA&ref=dm_sh_Od9MkQXoui0Ag1nZd37LVvi8m

On Bandcamp: https://vickyvonvicky.bandcamp.com/track/goodbye-my-love

 

The Evolution of “Not The Man”

Hey all, Mike here, writing a song is a process, sometimes things come right away, and sometimes they don’t. I thought to illustrate I would present the journey I took to get “Not the Man” completed.

Remember at the beginning I am (or we) songwriters are searching for something interesting, most of the time things AREN’T interesting. There is a lot of waste. But among the waste you may find a gem. And it’s exciting and rewarding to work this stuff out, it’s problem solving done in a different way.

I have been looking back at my voice memos etc. and trying to pinpoint when I first conceived “Not The Man” to tracing it through it’s evolution to an actual song. I have ALOT of voice memos with song ideas, and every once in awhile I go through them, at first I thought this song began in August of 2022, but in retrospect it seems the very first voice memo I have was back on May 24th 2022.

May 24, 2022 file: “New Recording 154 im not the man – good” ***
Here it is:

You can see that it has a ways to go, I have a few different chord changes and song ideas in here, I am just trying to feel it out, and seeing if I get anything by improvising, etc. You can see that some of these chord changes weren’t pursued, but I think it’s safe to say I am happy that I recorded this and most importantly revisit it a couple of months later.

August 15, 2022 (my daughter’s birthday)  file: “Not the man pt1 early urly urly chorus” ***
I must have gone through all of these voice memos in August (2022) because I revisited this and the next file I found chronologically was this:

Still working through the chorus, and chords, some more ideas that didn’t stick, just trying to get a verse here I think. I must have generally thought there was something here to explore.

August 23, 2022   file: “Not the man pr 2 reealy early”

This is me trying to workout the verse melody I think, I believe I woke up in the night and just sang into my phone, haha, not very coherent but I was able to decipher a verse melody out of this!

August 23, 2022   file “Not the man pt 3 early burly” ***

This is now becoming more like the verse. Not quite there, but still improvising /working it out.  It has the higher register part, which was key for the verse.

August 24, 2022  file: “Not the man pt 4 first w chord mod”

I felt the 3 chords were just a bit too repetitive, so I came up with this change, even though it didn’t all stick it got me to take the song where I needed to.  And the verse here is almost getting to its end state.

August 25, 2022   file: “Not the man pt 5 early ideas”

Still more of the same as the last one, but trying to work out the chord modification and vocal melody.  Again it didn’t all stick.

September 9, 2022   file: “Not the man – pt 6 chorus/bridge idea”

Working out the bridge, just really improvising both vocally and musically.  I like that I brought the chord modification into the bridge as well, it really fits. ***

September 19, 2022   file: “Not the man pt 7 bridge 1”

Still more work on the bridge, getting there, but not quite.

September 20, 2022  file: “Not the man pt 8 bridge – almost final”

More bridge work (hee hee), I don’t think I finalized it (the bridge) until later, and possibly finally worked it out with Nixon (Boyd).

October 25, 2022  First Demo – file: “I am Not the Man 2022-10-25 10:00AM”

This was a good demo, a demo doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should have all the important elements you will bringing into a song, it should give the producer a good idea about structure and melody and even instrumentation, sometimes though that can go all out the window.

So this demo is basically me adding instruments/vocals to programmed drums and jamming on guitar, lyrics are almost there, structure isn’t quite right yet as you can hear.  And there was one more additional chord change that hadn’t been put in yet, you’ll hear it in the next demo, it’s the part that goes G – > F# -> Bmin -> A (hold) in the second verse.  That A chord was a suggestion from Nixon and it is almost the last piece of the puzzle.

November 10, 2022  New Structure Demo (after discussion with Nixon Boyd) file: “I am Not the Man New STRUCTURE 2022-11-10-8:18”

Ya this one is almost exactly what we recorded, lyrics may have been slightly changed but the new outro vocals really lift the song.  And as you have heard on the finished song the live drums really make a difference and give everything the feel it needs, along with the polished vocals and running bass lines.

Feb.8, 2023 Final Mixed Version Here is the final version (after mastering, and in video format)…

 

Latest single “Not the man” out Now!!

Our latest single “Not The Man” is out today, you can find it on all streaming platforms, find it here:

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/vickyvonvicky/not-the-man

“Not The Man” began it’s journey exactly 1 year ago today, I was looking back on voice memos to figure out when I started writing this song and found it on a memo dated Aug. 16, 2022. So it’s just a coincidence that it’s being released exactly a year later.

Lyrically I was inspired last summer to write the song, “Not The Man,” in the voice of someone who is looking for purpose, and some sort of legacy in their life. 

This is a straight ahead rock song, with an indie-folk feel. It’s got the Vicky von Vicky sound, though it’s a nice contrast from some of our recent releases.

Enjoy!

-Michael Wynn

Song Credits:

Words by Michael Wynn

Music by Michael Wynn, Paul Pasanen, Rolston Miller & Thomas Nesbitt

Produced, Recorded & Mixed by Nixon Boyd (Banquet Sound/Simcoe Mechanical)

Mastered by Noah Mintz, the Lacquer Channel

“Jealousy” single Out Now!

Our latest single is “Jealousy” and it is out now on all streaming platforms!  

Play it over and over again, add it to your playlists, just give it some love ok? 

Streaming platforms:   https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/vickyvonvicky/jealousy

Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/album/2Ooj7dPhrpOzDeXQgs405l?si=OnXILudLTSyo7bwgj2g6ug

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/jealousy-single/1688670977

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOiG97Gg3IA

– – – – – – 

Written by Michael Wynn, Rolston Miller, Paul Pasanen & Tom Nesbitt

Recorded in December 2022 by Nixon Boyd at Simcoe Mechanical (Orillia) and January 2023 at Banquet Sound Studio (Toronto)

Guitars/Vox: Michael Wynn

Features: Guest Bass – Nixon Boyd, Guest Drums – Taylor Knox (Taylor Knox Music)

Mixed by Nixon Boyd

Mastered by Noah Mintz, Lacquer Channel

#newmusic #indierock #newrelease #torontomusic #torontolivemusic #geezerrock #rock #indie #toronto #guitarmusic

 

Jan 31, 2023 – Nu Music Nite at the Horseshoe

Reliving our first comeback gig, back in March 2020 (we all know what happened after).  We are happy to say we are back for Tuesday Jan 31, 2023 as part of Nu Music Nite.  We are on at 9pm sharp!  NO COVER!!!!

Set times / Lineup:
 
Kassa 11:30PM
Camryn Durante 10:40PM
Lightning Struck 9:50PM
Vicky Von Vicky 9:00PM
Doors 8:30PM

See you there…