Splash House Q&A: Vanilla Ace
If you're unfamiliar with Splash House – the most epic Pool & Music Festival hosted across two venues in Palm Springs – it's a recipe for success. It's also right around the corner, and guess who we tricked into letting us host a Q&A with? The delicious and always on-point, Vanilla Ace. Honestly, if there's one artist we'd trust to keep the party vibe steady, and someone who could push us into the pool fully clothes and not care, it's this guy. We discussed everything from what a typical day in the life of looks like, to what’s in his travel survival bag, to what’s next on the horizon. Slather up some SPF, grab a cocktail and check it out:
1. Thanks for taking the time out to talk with us! First question, and it’s 100% real… Do you sleep? Your accomplishments are inspiring not only to your fans and music lovers alike, but to young aspiring artists. How do you divide your time to tackle everything on your plate? In diary format, can you take us through a typical day in the life?
6AM: Either just getting to bed or waking up for a flight somewhere! I’m not a morning person at all! 8AM: If I’m not touring/flying anywhere hopefully I would be in bed still dreaming. Yes I like to sleep as much as possible, good way to keep those youthful looks intact! 11AM: Usually would wake up around this time if I had a studio session or a meeting. I like to start my day off with a nice fresh green smoothie which charges me up till lunch. 2PM: By this time I would usually be in front of my Mac checking emails/working on music ideas, my social media etc, maybe play a game or two of FIFA 16, cuddle the wife a few times if she’s home. 5PM: I’d still be working on music, maybe take a break to check some promos, I get sent so many a day its silly. Maybe grab a snack or two, hopefully a jam doughnut from Gregg’s (famous bakery in the UK). 8PM: If I’m not on the road me and the wife would be cooking at home or heading out to dinner somewhere nice. We love going to the movies, playing bowling etc. 11PM: Probably starting a DJ set somewhere in London or around the globe…I love DJing and playing new music.
2. When the Splash House lineup was announced, what’s the best reaction you received from a fan or friend?
Yes I got a few tweets and Facebook comments from fans saying they were excited! Its my third year in a row playing so appreciate them having me back again.
3. Playing so many gigs per year, what do you keep in your travel survival bag? Does that bag include any extra special add-ons for the desert, and your Splash House set that we can look forward to? Any peeks into your set that you can share with us?
I’ve become a bit of a tour expert now. In the US I’m TSA pre and have global entry so getting in and out of airports is a lot quicker for me now. I always laugh that I can get out of a US airport quicker than I can in London! But my survival kit consists of a ultra comfy neck pillow (some airline seats are not comfy), sleeping mask (useful if on zero sleep and flying during the day), non drowsy sleeping pills (useful if you need that extra push to sleep), 90’s R&B slow jams playlist to zone out to whilst flying, a good selection of TV shows and films to watch on my Sky GO app (only available to UK customers).
My set this year will consist of new music from me and anything that will get the crowd going nuts.
4. What fellow Splash House artist are you most likely to watch front & center?
I love the new Metroplane music from Alex Metric and Aeroplane so will defiantly hang around to hear them.
5. The obligatory question: What can we expect from you in the coming months/year ahead? Anything exciting on the horizon we should know about and share with the universe?
I have a track out now called ‘The GEE’ on Club Sweat (Yolanda Be Cool’s label) and also my new EP called ‘Night Steppin’ dropping on Bunny Tiger. I also have releases lined up on CUFF, Nurvous, Go Deeva, Mix Feed, NYX…
Vanilla Ace on Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter