Today we’d like to introduce you to Santana Vigil.
Hi Santana, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
My name is Santana Vigil, my mother Virginia named me after Carlos Santana. Everyone calls me Santi though so that’s what I go by! Born in West Saint Paul and raised till now! I started going to this basement house shows here in the twin cities in 2014. I would go and see bands like Remo Drive, Goodnight Gorillas, and Pierre every weekend night during high school. I had no friends at school but these basement shows gave me something to look forward to and made me want more out of my life.
Going to these shows though I quickly felt like an outcast there too, these band houses were a college frat house scene in a dinky town and it was completely foreign a place for someone like me to be, especially being a POC I did feel alone. I stopped going to show completely to pull back and work on what is my now band Virginia’s Basement. I didn’t work I just practiced every single day after high school in my mother Virginia’s Basement for a year or more straight. I ruined my life, to be honest, but I knew what I wanted and I knew I need a voice not just for me, but for others like me in the scene who felt just extremely alone. I’m thankful my mother allowed me to waste that time with her and she was so supportive through it all, I owe her the world.
After that stunt of practice for a year or so I moved into my first band house where I met Kyle Zendejas. A very talented musician in the band Inflict, Druid, and other projects they’ve contributed to. Kyle has been in the scene longer than me throwing concerts in his backyard at age 13! He was friends with my roommate at the time and he would continually bring me out and jam with me and he really did believe in the music I was writing. Shortly after that, I moved into our new house The Rose Club, which is a house venue run by the owner E.O.C or Evan! Evan built a stage in his huge basement and with me moving in and willing to put it to use me and Kyle started jamming weekly and writing songs for our new album BUBBY.
We did a Christmas show together and we realized we wanted to get serious with our project and Kyle reached out to Ramon Varela, one of his buddies from high school! Ramon ended up being one of the most talented additions to the band adding rhythm and melodies to our music, truly creating the soul of the band. With Ramon added we went on to do insane shows not just in basements but at venue halls, coffee shops, bars, and breweries, we got hired by The Walker to be the only band playing for their teen takeover event and they treated us with the world of respect and love. We got our money together after these shows and went out to record our first album BUBBY. We met with Bruce Eiler, Kyle’s good friend and an old member of Inflict!
Bruce was super talented and did an amazing job with our album and even added in the keyboard and synth parts you hear, it inspired us to seek out a keyboard player. We signed up for the U of M battle of the bands with the help of Nen Ramirez, they were a U student and had experience with the keyboard so we thought it was the perfect scenario for us because we could literally think of not a better option than Nen and they literally learned all our keyboard parts without our help and continue to write new parts now and it’s an insane light we needed in our band. Nen helped us win round 1 of Battle of the Bands and for the final battle at Spring Jam, we came in 2nd place!
Now, we are preparing for our gig at Cinco de Mayo West Saint Paul on May 6th, we are all Mexican so it’s literally our dream to play at a local festival we’ve been a part of all our lives!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s been a huge struggle getting our foot into the scene, but once we did we couldn’t be stopped. Nobody really wanted to gig with us or have us on their bills, we weren’t able to land a gig unless we hosted it ourselves which we did!
Once we started hosting shows the same people who rejected us at first started coming to us to do shows with us and it really helped grow our name in the scene.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a singer-songwriter at heart, I try to write music that doesn’t talk about a specific topic but more about a feeling and it makes you relate the music to your own life. I’m proud that I was able to create music that others could relate to and even sing while at our shows. I’m proud of the song “Ice Cream” for doing just that, the fans love that song.
As a band, we specialize in high-energy, and engaging shows. We want people to lose themselves to the music and just have as much fun as possible, and don’t take things too seriously.
We’re not like most bands definitely due to our personalities, we know people want to be acknowledged and spoken to and we make the effort of seeking our fans out rather than them us, most bands don’t do this and gain zero connection with their fans.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Definitely talk to EVERYONE, let everyone know of your presence otherwise, you will have none at all. Don’t be shy or scared or embarrassed ever, push that feeling as far back as you can. Be respectful to everyone, and show them, love, because you never know who may need it.
Don’t sink and swim. We’ve learned to avoid all unnecessary drama if we can, it’s best to just keep working on your craft than focus on the world crumbling around you.
Find the price for your dreams and pay it.
Contact Info:
- Website: virginiasbasement.bandcamp.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/virginiasbasement/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VirginiasBasement
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@virginiasbasement
Image Credits
Teagan Greene @teagyteagy
