REFRAIN TAKEOVER: Project Vela

Every now and then, we like to know what music drives the artists we love here at Refrain.Musi.Blog. With that in mind, we’ve asked Project Vela to take over our Spotify Playlist and curate it with their favorite tunes.

First, let’s start off with a little about Project Vela, for the uninitiated. The melodic hard rock duo bridges electronic, pop, and alternative elements to create a fresh, explosive sound that British metal magazine Fireworks hailed as “exciting and creative,” describing their EP Disconnected as “an album that will please fans of hard experimental energy driven cinematic rock.”

The entirely DIY project, from the musical minds of lead vocalist Scott Spriggs and multi-instrumentalist co-producer Travis Owen, is drawing comparisons to their own idols, including Linkin Park, Breaking Benjamin, Starset, and I Prevail. Since their 2017 debut, Project Vela has been steadily growing a devoted fan base of over 150,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, while racking up millions of streams on YouTube.

So before we let the boys have their way with our playlist, we decided to put their latest single, “Waiting For Death To Begin” at the top spot.

The duo decided to split their Top 10 songs into two Top 5 lists. So, without further adeu, we present Scott’s top 5!

I guess there’s kind of a theme here. My favorites are, and have always been, the songs that reach straight into your chest and pull at your heart strings.

1. Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd : This has been one of my favorite songs since I was very very young. I grew up on classic rock, and I love Pink Floyd. It was one of the first songs I ever learned on guitar, and one of the first songs I ever performed live.

2. Burial Plot – Dayseeker : My obsession with this album just happened to coincide with my dad’s death. This particular track was a special little bonding moment for me and my 4 siblings. We all have super different tastes and aesthetics, but this song punched every single one of us in the gut. There was a massive sense of catharsis just being able to drive around and scream this song as loud as I wanted.

3. Everlong – Foo Fighters : Foo Fighters were one of the first “modern” rock bands I was exposed to growing up. At the time, I was just a drummer and a singer, and learning the history of Dave Grohl was super inspiring to me. I’ve always felt very close to this song, especially after hearing the acoustic version live on Howard Stern. I was hooked, and I have played the acoustic version of this song at a couple weddings.

4. Gone With The Wind – Architects : To me, this is just the peak of the marriage between heavy and emotional that I’m drawn to in metal. I don’t know how there is so much emotion crammed into a metal song, but this is the level of emotion I try to convey. Sam and company are just the masters at this, their songwriting is something I look up to a lot.

5. Dusk and Summer – Dashboard Confessional : This song embodies the beginning of my journey learning to play guitar and write songs. I started on acoustic guitar. My acoustic guitar is an old Epiphone that my dad bought in 1988, and he gave it to me for my 16th birthday. I spent thousands of hours learning acoustic music. I REALLY loved the early 2000’s acoustic emo movement with Dashboard, and bands like Something Corporate and Secondhand Serenade. This song is the perfect song for the sad, romantic, acoustic emo in me.

And now, on to Travis’ 5!

1. Heavyweight – Infected Mushroom: This was the song that totally
changed the trajectory of my music journey. I’ve always been a fan
of Metal, Classical, and EDM and this song just opened my eyes to
endless possibilities. The arrangement is amazing as well.

2. When Everything Falls – Haste The Day: This track was on daily
repeat for me in high school. It’s heavy, melodic, and gives me
those good old scream emo vibes.

3. Paper Thin – Illenium: From time to time I like to try new EDM elements
in my Alt-Metal writing style. I absolutely love the sidechained synths in
this song. Future Bass just seems to transport me to another world.
Tom DeLonge’s vocals are an added bonus.

4. One Becomes Two – Kaura: Again, I discovered this band back in high school
and the blend of progressive, Tool-esk rhythms, and Eastern/World instruments
and strings have a profound impact on my music and my life in general.

5. Welcome Home – Coheed and Cambria: Not sure what to say about this one except
that I think it’s a modern masterpiece. Everything from the instrumental arrangement to
the vocals are epic. This song opened the modern, cinematic rock door for me.