MUSIC INTERVIEW: G-VO

 

G-Vo spoke to Buzzine Bollywood in a first-person narrative. Below is his story, as told to our own Neha Sarin-Malhotra:

 

The Beginning

 

I’m a Sri Lankan-born artist and I emigrated to the States because of the riots and civil war in Sri Lanka. We had a tough time coming to America.

 

My mom passed away when I was nine years old. When I went to college, I was always interested in music and sang in the choir, but in college, I knew music was my calling. I graduated college early at the age of 20 and was going to go to law school.

 

Tryst with Music

 

I knew I could finish law school and turn out to be an average lawyer, but I asked myself: What is going to stretch me to the absolute limits in terms of my character, my talent, my personality?And I figured out, early on, that I really wanted to be a part of the music industry. I went full force, and after college, I got a full-time job, and at night I started making music and started performing. And here we are, three albums later. My music angle is completely positive and righteous music, but not done in a way that is preppy. I want to be one of the first artists that are positive and catchy in pop music. I’m making my own lane in music where I do not have a blue print. The style of my music is like a remixed Coldplay, Michael Jackson, Kanye West ... some hip hop elements, rock kind of fusion, and very eclectic. It’s uncharted territory with stuff that has never been done in the music industry before, but I believe I’ll be the first one to be successful at it. After being a consultant for five years, I quit my job and went into music full-time. This is a very interesting time of transition for me, and I'm trying to see what the future holds. 

 

Third Album: Endangered Species

 

This is my third solo album. It is a concept album. The idea of Endangered Species is that a group of people were sent to Earth to be messengers of light and hope, and they are all around us. They are doctors, lawyers, garbage men, artists, students, children, etc. It’s this concept that people have integrated in this world. There is a whole world out there where everyone is the same. Everybody wants the same thing, and there is a lot of darkness and hate. Then there is a group of people who left, and they bring hope to the world. These are the Martin Luther Kings, Mother Theresas, and they are the very few that are set apart for radical change. These are the endangered species, and what I’m doing in this album is calling people to that level of life. I want everyone to be "endangered species." This is a call for everyone to live in that one percent club. A lot of times, people think that’s only for a certain group of people to be excellent at what they do and to be full of love and hope, but really, that's for everyone's call. That’s the message of this album. The songs are written like a musical, and some are my best musical work. I’ve got pop, hip hop, and classical music. It's got remixes, and it's been a critically acclaimed album, and I'm very proud of it. On June 25th, we are going to put all that live and see what happens. We will have dancers, a light show ... we are going all out. There are 14 songs on the album. 

 

Music with a Cause!

 

I told KIIS FM yesterday that when I came into this country, it's by accident that I'm alive. You can choose to live your life for your own accolades and your own dreams and your own ambitions, but when you feel like you have escaped death and God has blessed you so much, you feel like your responsibility is a little bit more than everyone around you. It’s interesting, being an artist -- it's like, even though you are the focal point, you have the opportunity to make other things the focal point. You use your power to give other things power, and I'm in love with that idea -- that I could be a voice for the voiceless, and then give them empowerment to have their own voice. There is a crisis in Egypt where there is a garbage village where people actually live on garbage, and they sort out the garbage for their income, but they have no running water or electricity. So there is this group called A Remnant Remains, and they are the ones that are providing water and solar power energy for this particular village. No need to be in America where we have all these resources and then forget about the suffering in other parts of the world. When I celebrate my album, I’m celebrating my ability to help other people through my music. 

 

Celebration

 

I’m not celebrating GVO. That’s not why I do music. That’s a waste of time, I think. We live in a culture in America where everybody wants to celebrate themselves, and I don’t find any joy in that. I’m excited because there is a target fund to raise between $50,000 to $75,000. I believe we can do that.