Just released: Exclusive interview with the highest of vibes reggae fusion VANA LIYA!
Check out Vana Liya’s latest release at vanaliyamusic.com. Vana Liya is the highest vibe and has a heart of gold. This will be her inaugural year performing in Long Beach in front of a crowd of up to 20,000 fans. She has some big things on the horizon.
Exclusive interview – just some small talk about big things…. Getting to know the inspirational Vana Liya!
Reggae Rock News: Super stoked to see you on the big festivals. For example Cali Vibes & Cali Roots
Vana Liya: I am so excited!
Reggae Rock News: Have you played for a large audience of up to 20,000 fans?
Vana Liya: No, no, not yet. I’m actually kind of stoked because it’s my first time on such a big festival. And, you know, I’m not playing first because every, every festival I played I warmed up the stage a little bit. Reggae Rise Up I played second on the little stage, but we played third on a small stage. So I feel like, you know, each first of all, the slots are getting a little bit nicer. So it’s just kind of a cool feeling to have.
Reggae Rock News: Fantastic!, I’m so glad I knew you would get a spot. You have Cali Roots coming up as well?
Vana Liya: That one I am really stoked for too, because that one I feel like is kind of like the big boys, the big boy festival. You know, it’s the big leagues.
Reggae Rock News: Do you know what stage you’re playing at Cali Roots?
Vana Liya: I’m probably going to open up this small stage because on the flier, my name is like the first one for Sunday. But I’m excited to be playing on Sunday because it’s kind of nice to play for, like the crowds and like, everybody’s kind of warmed up in the festival vibe because every festival that it played so far have been played on the first day, so I think it’ll be kind of cool to have the experience where I am playing to a warmed up crowd in the sense.
Reggae Rock News: Are you going to be there all weekend?
Vana Liya: Oh, yeah, I’m always about like the hardcore promo. When I play, like on Friday, I’ll go Saturday and Sunday and promote with the guys. My fan group is called the Vana Liya Tortillas. The guys and I we have little taco hats and costumes and goodies. We walk around and hand fliers out and stuff. We have signs and stuff, you know, just to kind of like, I don’t know, it kind of brings you back to like WARP tour. Warming up the fans for my set.
Reggae Rock News: I was going to ask you about the tortillas?
Vana Liya: Yeah. So that’s kind of cool, kind of like how I try to get like everyone’s attention because like, I don’t know, there’s been like other bands in the scene like Tropidelic that have a big Tuba with their name painted on the inside of the Tuba and walk around the festival. Kash’d Out they have big signs. And so it’s kind of like a cool way to get out and engage more fans and it is a great time! It allows me to make full use of the festival. I am going to set up some fan times at the LAW booth so I can meet more fans and would love to meet you.
Reggae Rock News: Do you have any shows coming up locally other than Cali Vibes?
Vana Liya: I have a Saint Patrick’s Day show March17, 2022 with Long Beach Dub Allstars. I’m really excited for that because actually the first I ever came to California was because the Long Beach Dub Allstars. We’re having some shows and there were like five dollar tickets too and I bought a plane ticket to come to Cali and I caught there San Ana show and the San Diego show. And so we just kind of really stoked to open for them because I don’t know, this is Mnd of like a bucket list band for me, you know, and I’m also like a huge Sublime fan so to be able to perform these shows with them, is going to be super special.
Reggae Rock News: The show will be sick. They’re another of my favorite bands. I saw them the first time in Hermosa, before the whole scene just blew up that I knew was inevitable.
Vana Liya: I also have a show at the Belly Up in San Diego March 18, 2022.
Reggae Rock News: I could not attend Reggae Rise Up Festival because the airlines were striking that day and my flights got cancelled.
Vana Liya: I remember that, it was crazy that weekend. We were going and we flew out the day before , we played on Friday and we were we were flying a red eye flight Thursday night and of the band is in Northern California and their flights got cancelled and I ended up having to like, get those flights changed from of San Jose, to San Fransisco. The difference in price was $ 1500.00 for me to buy the two tickets but we could not let down the fans.
Reggae Rock News: The Reggae Rock scene is becoming so significant. How did you feel to be a part of it?
Vana Liya: You know, I think it’s kind of like hitting me more and more as time goes on. I think I kind of like I hit the spot when I was not touring and all, it was just kind of like backyard shows here. I think I kind of like lost sight of how it felt to be touring. And touring gives me a sense of purpose to be what I worked so hard for, because it allows me to tangibly be around what we have been trying to work for and just reminds me of what we are doing. For example: going on tour with The Movement was super awesome. The first show that we had was like Salt Lake City, the crowd was like insane. And it was like, like everybody was like up up to the rails by the time we went out and it was the first time that I felt on a tour could really do this. I had an opportunity be in front of everyone and stage presence is something I’ve always kind of struggled with. On that tour and the K-Bong tour, I did a K-Bong tour right before that. And with that tour, I kind of saw that like, I had this opportunity and I was like, I saw my cell phone video and I thought that like I brought it like the first leg of the tour and I was thinking, l did not really look like what I thought it was going to look like. I thought at that moment that I need to just get outside of my comfort zone. If I do this right and I do these tours right this could be super helpful for my career. So it was like an awakening that and I forced myself to find my stage presence. As a result I’m so much more comfortable up on the stage. I’m really excited for Cali Vibes as it will be my first festival where I feel like I have my footing down.
Reggae Rock News: What are some big festivals that you have attended in the past years?
Vana Liya: This will be my inaugral year on the Long Beach Shoreline but I have attended California Roots and I remember my first time at Reggae Rise Up. I rode up with Kash;d Out and remember that I wanted to play ande I was watching Kash’d out backstage and thought one day because that’s how I got the top. I was riding with them at the time and I I saw them play backstage and I was like, Man, if you really cool is like one day I got to play this, and three days later I was up on that stage. I am still in La La land seeing my name on some of the posters.
Reggae Rock News: Do you have any collaborations coming up?
Vana Liya: I am looking to write a second album and maybe a single or two in between. I just kind of trying to branch out a little bit. But you know, I have talked to Johnny Cosmic a little bit about him doing my second album and I think that might be coming up in the works. I’ve actually been working with the Moxie Brothers, their production company that’s composed of Todd Foreman who used to play sax for Sublime, and Adrian from No Doubt he’s the drummer. So we’ve been kind of meeting up here and there, and hopefully we have some cool songs on the horizon. So that would be kind of cool. And then there’s a songwriter, Wayne Moseying, that’s been producing and stuff for Pepper and Kaleo’s side project “Sabotage project Sound System.” So I’m kind of excited to kind of the opportunity to work together and just dive in and see where it could go.