“Success to me is not monetary or prestige but what I have to contribute to society. Have I made other peoples lives more eventful and will they in turn have a positive influence over the people they get to touch? Success for me is happening every day until I die. Then I foresee success being multiplied by the many generations to follow.” -@HVirock
Listen to the interview: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/avaliveradio/2015/08/27/episode-251-ava-live-radio-behind-the-music-with-jacqueline-jax
GETTING TO KNOW HEATH VIROK
by Jacqueline Jax host of A.V.A Live Radio
Success to me is…
not monetary or prestige but what I have to contribute to society. Have I made other peoples lives more eventful and will they in turn have a positive influence over the people they get to touch? Success for me is happening every day until I die. Then I foresee success being multiplied by the many generations to follow.
Challenging himself…
I try to keep a tight schedule for doing certain things through the week. If I have anything dealing with the music industry, I try to handle it as soon as possible. I also like to respond to music opportunities where most of them have deadlines and are looking for a particular form of music. So, if I have only a few days to work on a new project, it does create a challenge for me. Of course, I try to make it a business while balancing the artist’s aspects of it.
Biggest fear…
I would have to say is breaking a finger on my left hand. As I mentioned before, I like to ride my giant bike. Well, on a 40-mile ride, I had an accident one morning last year where I broke my right thumb. The thumb does not have the same mobility that it had before. So, I can imagine if this occurred to one of my left fingers it would hamper my playing ability. However, biking is something I enjoy doing so I will continue to ride but be more careful.
Starting in music…
there were two starts for me, the first was in 1977 where I bought a Ludwig Octagon drums set, and an inexpensive folk guitar from a pawn shop. I started to learn to play these instruments, and I favored the drums. I join a band and played with them for a while. However, I found that being able to practice anytime with the drums was very hard because of the loudness. So I switched my passion to the guitar and learned some basic chords and wrote a few songs and sent one out to a publisher. Now, we jump to 2014 where I spend the previous 35 years in what I call a philosophical coma. You could count the times I’ve played any instrument during those years on one hand. I started buying instruments like drums, bass and electric guitar, synthesizers, and a 24 channel recorder before my retirement from my job of 30-plus years. So, I started the trip again to learn how to play and record songs that’s either been written recently or remained as song ideals for many years in my memory.
Why in Your Eyes…
was the first song I wrote from my long absence from music. It’s about people falling in love, and thanking the Lord for giving them such a great opportunity to fulfil their dreams in finding the perfect person. It’s about depending and needing that person as their love continues in time, and not everything is by chance.
Single vs. an entire album…
I have no problems with either method. I’ve released two of my songs in early 2014 to get a feel of the new technology. I am planning on a full album release very soon when I feel that the sound like the music is right on the money. I’ve been giving the chance to showcase my music on two music apps coming out soon, so that will be interesting to see the results of that. So, my market strategy has not changed much since the second birth of my career. That is to keep using the new social media tools to get the music heard.
Living in Georgia…
I live in Columbus, Ga. It’s about 90 miles South of Atlanta. The music scene there is pretty fluid. There’re many free concerts in the downtown area and many music festivals to enjoy. There’s a Civic Center where a lot of known bands come to perform. And Atlanta is not far away if you wanted to see any additional entertainment. Columbus also has miles of bike trails where I can enjoy the scenery of the Chattahoochee River while putting some decent miles on my Giant bike.
The music industry…
There was only one time I thought something could have gone wrong. That was in 1979 where I sent one song to a music publisher, and they wrote back a letter stating that the song was okay. However, they were not looking for new songs or artists at that time. Well a few months later, I heard a song that sounded very much like my song being played on a Detroit Radio Station but with a tempo change and a few lyric changes. I dismissed the ideal because you can find a similarity in a lot of music. A little later while I was in boot camp in Fort Leonard Wood Mo, I received a letter from a major record company wanting me to send them more songs. I’ve never sent the label any material to begin with so, I really don’t know for sure of any wrong dealings, but it’s hard to totality dismiss the incident completely.
Social media…
I love the way that you can instantly communicate with any person you chose to encounter on social media. It’s priceless to be able to follow a link that was sent to you and see and hear that media content at your own leisure. Furthermore, social media is very helpful in keeping me informed with current events that I am interested in. The music apps from Splashflood, and Veromuse which I am part of are a great example of how as a new artist can get their music heard by people you could never reach before. So, I love the technology that is driving people closer together than ever before in History.
I would love to have 5 minutes alone with…
There are so many great people I would like to meet. However, I would say Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He is considered one of the greatest wartime leaders in the 20th century. How Churchill took his Country from certain defeat by the Nazi party, and with pure determination and bravery that he bestowed on the masses made it possible for the United Kingdom to survive, which was one of the biggest turning points in World War Two.
Music trends…
Now, I am trying to get a lot of ideals out that have been persisting in my mind, which tends to be more dated. Furthermore, it will be up to me to create music that would be considered current and trendy by studying the genre and implementing the concepts, which I will when I become more comfortable. However, there’s been no push to hurry up this process.
Creating the music and videos…
I am the only member of the band Virock, so I play all instruments and do all the recordings and mixing for all my projects. What I find interesting and intriguing is the mixing down process because it very important that the music sounds great in all current media devices. The equipment I am currently using is:
Taylor T5z guitar, Peavey T-60 guitar, Crafter Folk guitar, Vantage Bass guitar, Yamaha Grand Piano, Alesis DM-10 Drums, Tascam DP-24 Digital Recorder, Sonar Professional DAW, M-Audio speakers, Audio Engine speakers, and Avantone Active MixCube speakers. I have one video called “The Christmas Light.” If any inspiring film maker out there needs some music for their video, check out, my music and contact me.
Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HVirock
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HVirock
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/heath-virock/tracks
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3nFbpIkBJuxWFyWy3kkBaA
Reverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/heathvirock