Introducing The Rising Pop Newcomer Vinesto

Rising star Vinesto is fired up and ready to take the pop world by storm. Global domination awaits as the teen newcomer drops new single ‘Wish That We’ – an infectious ditty detailing the trials and tribulations of falling in and out of love. With a debut album on the horizon, we caught up with him to discuss growing up in Ukraine, working with pop royalty and why London will always be his home.

Vinesto! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us. Whereabouts in the world are you this summer? 

This summer has been incredibly busy overall, I have been between London, LA and my hometown back in Ukraine. I have been making sure my music is ready for release starting this Autumn as well as trying to stay on track with school as I will be graduating this coming school year. 

For any new fans that haven’t heard the magic that you create yet, how would you describe Vinesto’s sound in 3 words? 

I think my main focus is making sure that people can relate to my music and have fun whilst listening to it. I want to make my fans feel comforted, inspired, encouraged or whatever feeling they truly need at that moment. 

Are you from a music / creative family? What sort of music was playing in the house as you were growing up? 

My parents always told me that we are not a musical family, which is funny because it’s a complete lie. We weren’t a massively musical family, but my mom played the piano for 7 years and my dad played the guitar in musical school and was about to go to college to study guitar. He didn’t end up going as he broke his arm the summer before he was due to start. So, I guess there is some sort of explanation as to why I am obsessed with music so much. 

Originally from Ukraine before relocating to London, how do you think the country and your beginnings inspired you to become the artist that you are today? 

Ukraine will always be my “home home”, and the place where I was born. Having such an opportunity to travel the world and see different places has taught me so much about life and how it differs in places around the world. I take a lot of inspiration from my home country and a lot of my songs are based on stories and experiences I went through during the time where I was constantly travelling and figuring out who I am and where my heart lies. 

How has London shaped you since you relocated? What is it that you love about the city? 

I am the biggest city boy! So, for me to be in a big city such as London is unbelievable. London has a special place in my heart because it’s where I was between the ages of 11-17 on my own. I had to go through things that some people my age don’t have to, and at times it sucked because having your family with you definitely makes things easier, but once I moved I didn’t have that. I had to figure a lot of things out on my own and it can be scary doing that when you are so young and have just left your whole life behind. 

In your free time, how do you explore London? Any favourite restaurants, book shops, galleries…?

My friends and I generally love to eat and try to explore restaurants all around London. We love l Zuma, Dozo, Oliveto and loads more. A long-time favourite of mine is the partridge’s food market in Chelsea. It’s only open on Saturdays and you can get the most gorgeous food there, plus it’s inexpensive which makes me very happy as a student. 

As a teenager, how did you navigate your way through such a turbulent year with the global pandemic in full force? 

I experienced the pandemic very differently from how most of my peers experienced it, so when everyone was in lockdown, they were stuck with their families and I was just stuck alone because my family was back home. It’s a blessing and a curse because not being able to see anyone or go anywhere and being completely alone has at times made me feel lonely but I had stayed on course with my music and school, so I just had to keep my head in the game. 

What was your route into music and the industry? 

When I moved to a boarding school in the UK I was 11years old and I left my whole life back home, all my friends and my family and music was my saviour. I saved up all the money I had to buy a Blue Yeti and attempt to make covers. I learnt how to use programs like Audacity to record and then I advanced to Garageband and it kind of became my whole new life, which It was so exciting to me. One summer my parents took me on their work trip to LA as we haven’t seen each other for long and I stumbled on a vocal coach a Russian blogger Sasha Spielberg was working with. I googled him and saw the people he worked with and I think I peed myself a little. He worked with Beyonce, Ava Max, Nicki Minaj, Zendaya, Katy Perry, all these great superstars. I remember sneaking around in the morning to take my dad’s American phone and call him and I didn’t want my dad to know.

I must have sounded like a crazy person on the phone with his secretary because they were asking if I was signed, how long I was singing for, who I was working with, my record deals and I was just like… It’s just me, alone, hoping to do music, from Ukraine, halfway across the world on a work trip with my family. Somehow, I managed to get one hour with the coach, so I came into the studio and I got taken to the coaching room and that is where I met Nicholas Cooper. I had one session with him, and I told him about my story and my dream, so he agreed to do 10 sessions with me to help him. After those 10 sessions, I had formed a connection with him, he wasn’t just my coach but also a therapist and a good friend who cared about me. So, one day he asked me if I wanted to make music with Ariana Grande’s producer and my whole world turned upside down. 

We adore your newest single ‘Wish That We’. Can you tell us the inspiration behind writing and creating the track? 

‘Wish That We’ is one of the more lighter tracks on my debut album. I started falling into the trap of having songs that were sad and had really deep meanings but ‘Wish That We’ has a lightness to it which reminds me of something very youthful, the first experiences of love, heartbreak, the things that seem super important to you when you are a teenager but in quite an innocent way. 

How does your creative process start when beginning to write a track? Do you start with beats, melodies, lyrics, piano? 

Every song for me starts with an idea, a feeling, an event, it could be something I saw, something that I feel strongly about, or something crazy that I never realised. I store all my brilliant ideas on my iPhone and when I sit down with my team we discuss those ideas and work on the beats and the lyrics and bring my whole vision to life.

How did you meet Grammy-nominated Producer Tommy Brown? 

Actually, it was because of the pandemic! I met him over Zoom, he was in his studio surrounded by loads of records and platinum discs and I felt totally out of my depth. We were on Zoom and my camera quality was so terrible that I looked like a raccoon, but I had to go with it. He was really nice, and he had really cool hair. 

We love the idea of a Vinesto collaboration. If you had to select any artist to work with, who would be your number 1 choice? 

I would love to work with Michael Jackson if he was still with us. I’d also love to work with Joji and Troye Sivan.

We love your music videos and the whole aesthetic behind your visuals. Are you involved in all aspects of your creative output? 

Absolutely, it doesn’t just stop for me when a song is recorded. I love doing music videos, visualisers, anything that helps people visualise the song and have it come to life. A lot of the time I already know exactly what the music video is going to look like even before the song is fully recorded and mastered. 

Looking ahead, what does the rest of 2021 have in store for you? Will we see any live shows? More music? An album? 

The rest of 2021 is going to be crazy, I’m sure. I have so many exciting things coming up, from new singles to something a little bit beefier at the beginning of 2022.

Make sure to listen to Vinesto’s brand new single ‘Wish That We’ below or here.