Bryce Vine is bringing his brand of upbeat hip hop to stages across the world. After touring with acts like Hoodie Allen and MAX, Vine is currently on his first headlining tour. Atlas spoke with Vine about success, his upcoming album and connecting people through music.
Atlas Artist Group: Can you tell us more about your new song, “La La Land”, and the inspiration behind your new music?
Bryce Vine: I’m really just getting everything ready for the new album that’s coming out this summer- it’s called Carnival. [I’m drawing from] just real life situations. I feel like I’m a pretty normal person. I keep my tight-knit group of friends that I’ve had for a long time and it helps me to kind of relive moments and situations that I might have forgotten and put it into songs. Obviously, life has changed more than it ever has this year with “Drew Barrymore’s” success so now I just have so much more to talk about and feel and write about. It’s just more life- like Drake says.
Atlas: Do you think this perspective helps you stay connected with your fans as your success is growing?
Bryce: I mean, I hope so. I think people are latching on for the long haul when they hear the music, which is great.
Atlas: You’re out on your first headlining tour this spring. Previously you’ve opened for acts like Hoodie Allen and MAX- how is the experience different now that you’re the headliner?
Bryce: Oh my god, it’s so much better. I had a blast on all those tours, but I didn’t have anything to compare it to. I’ve never had a tour bus until now- we’ve always been squeezing into rental cars and vans, trying to save every penny that we could. Now I have room to lay down and relax if I need to or take a nap before a set. It elevates it so much. This is the first time I’ve ever been on a tour bus I didn’t have to ask permission to get on to, so that’s amazing.
Knowing that everyone is there to sing the songs with me and to enjoy themselves- but they’re fans of the music- I’ve never experienced that. I’ve had fans that have been coming to the shows, but it’s never been like this. It’s on a whole other level, it’s so cool to see.
Atlas: How did you go about choosing your opening acts for this tour?
Bryce: I did pick them, actually. One of the guys who I write a lot of songs with, including “La La Land” and “Drew Barrymore”, is the lead singer of 7715. [With] Travis Thompson, my best friend had showed me his music not long before we added him to the tour and I liked him and his whole presence. He could not be a nicer, more genuine kid and he’s super talented so it’s really nice to see that there’s more people like that.
Atlas: Do you have any favorite tour memories?
Bryce: I was touring with Hoodie Allen in Europe, which was epic. One night we all went to karaoke at the venue next door in Hamburg, Germany, and we sang karaoke until about 5 a.m. That was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done for sure.
There’s a lot of little things where you step back for a moment and go ‘wow this is so cool that we get to do this’. Me and my team were in Amsterdam not too long ago, enjoying that culture over there and then we went to Paris and got a proper Parisian meal. These are the same guys that have been roughing it in rental cars for years and years who have been part of the team and working hard regardless of the fact that there was no glam and glory about it, and now we all get to celebrate it together. Everything feels elevated and like a fun moment to celebrate.
Atlas: What’s been the most difficult part of navigating the music industry as you’ve been finding your place in it?
Bryce: I think you said it- navigating it is hard when you don’t have a compass. There’s not any straight, narrow road to figure out how to be a successful artist- it’s trial and error constantly. I’ve failed all the way up till now. Not failed- it’s taken me a long time to figure out what my voice was and where my place was and how to hone in on my own sound and what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it.
It’s really a self process too. I feel more confident and in-tune as a human being now than I ever have and it took all that struggle to get here and to really be able to appreciate it.
Atlas: What’s been the most rewarding part for you?
Bryce: I mean, I love to travel. Seeing the world is part of why I wanted to do this and do it in this way. Any time I get to go to a new city or a new part of the world and experience culture that I would have never seen or understood, I feel like I gained something that I can take away with me and back to the studio. So that’s a big part of it- it’s inspiring in that way.
I also love seeing it all come together and seeing so many people’s lives affected because of how well things are going. The writer who I wrote “La La Land” with was going to quit music a year ago. Because of the success of writing some of “Drew Barrymore” and now “La La Land”, his life has turned around. He was just able to take his mom on vacation to Hawaii. I love that and I get to take care of my friends when I come to town and when they want to come to the show and their family members. Paying people back for the things that they’ve had for so long and the support that I’ve had- that’s probably the best part.
As far as the fans go, the best part of my day is playing the show. My favorite thing in the world is to be up there for that hour and play for all these people that I don’t even know but feel like friends. There’s nothing like it.
Atlas: If you could pick the perfect tour lineup, who would be joining you on the road?
Bryce: I’m going to say Post Malone, Gambino and…I don’t know. Maybe that’s it. Not too bad a lineup.
Atlas: What artists are on your radar right now?
Bryce: There’s this punk band called FIDLAR. I love punk music. I can’t stop talking about them, I love them.
[Editor’s note: Atlas and Bryce bonded briefly over a shared love of FIDLAR.]
Saint JHN is great, Cautious Clay…I’m always looking for the new people that I can’t stop listening to.
Atlas: Where are you hoping music takes you as you move forward? Are you pursuing any other creative endeavors outside of music?
Bryce: I hope music takes me all around the world to see different cultures and experience people and to just, before I die, really get a good grasp of how huge and diverse the world is, and then write from that perspective. I plan on taking this global. I want to be someone that connects people and have my music be the way to do that.
As far as other ventures, my best friend in the entire world since I was 15 years old revamped his family’s barn into a sanctuary for abused farm animals. He’s been doing that for a year and then he went viral so now he’s about to be very well known around the world. What he’s doing is great- he rescues animals and treats them like pets and he’s a vegan but he doesn’t act like an asshole. He’s just a great person that I want to support in all his endeavors like he supports mine. His Barn Sanctuary is a non-profit organization that people just donate to. We have fans that have reached out to us about adult autism foundations. We can link people with adult autism to being able to work with animals and things like that.
I’ve been working on a book for like two years- not about me, [it’s] about one of my best friends and his struggle with drug addiction. In today’s world, drug culture has gotten out of hand and people are dying left and right. There used to be books and D.A.R.E programs to keep people off of it and now there’s not and my friend is a perfect example. One of my best friends is somebody who really went to the bottom and told me the story on a phone call from rehab once a day, all the things that he had done. I just started writing them down and we started working on it together. When I’m done with touring, I plan on putting out his anti-drug book.
Atlas: What’s in the cards for you coming up? What’s your master plan?
Bryce: World touring. Getting a better understanding and idea of what I don’t understand and then figure out new ways to make the world better and connect people. And then write better songs- the more I do things like this and the better I feel, the better my writing gets. It’s a win-win.
To learn more about and support Barn Sanctuary, head here.
Story and photos by Olivia Khiel
