Phillyist Interviews... Nico Vega

"There's nothing better than sleeping naked," says Aja Volkman. "I mean, yeah, you can sleep with clothes on, but is it as comfortable?" The sultry lead singer of Nico Vega, one of the freshest sounds on the rock scene today, offered this analogy when asked about her habit of performing in bare feet. Aside from the fact that it feels good, it's practical—Aja jumps around with such wild abandon on stage that shoes would just get in the way. "I'm barely aware of my body as it is when I'm up there," she says.

Clearly she's no choreographed, over-produced pop tart. Despite her claim of wanting to be "a singing, dancing princess" as a child, Aja instead matured to something much more compelling. With no real formal training, she picked up a guitar and started writing songs while in high school in Oregon. After relocating to Los Angeles like so many aspiring rock stars, the brunette chanteuse started playing shows on her own, hoping to stumble upon a band with the right chemistry. And that's exactly what happened one night, when the band's founding drummer came up to Aja after a show and asked her to sing with him and a guitar player friend. "It was the first time it was totally fluid," she says.

Between her striking stage presence and an amazing vocal range that glides effortlessly from breathy and ethereal (think Elizabeth Berg from The Like) to deep and powerful (we're talking Tina Turner-esque), Aja is the perfect front woman for a band poised to shake up the indie rock scene. She's backed up by the wholly original guitar stylings of Rich Koehler and pounding beats courtesy of Dan Epand. But perhaps "backed up" isn't the right term, since according to Aja "The only way that a collaboration works is to make everybody else as important as you are."

Nico Vega, named for former drummer Mike Pena's mother, formed four years ago has been together in its current incarnation for about two years. In that time, they've put out one seven-inch and two full-length records, including the recently released eponymous CD. With bold, provocative lyrics and a sound that channels Marilyn Manson one moment and Ani DiFranco the next, Nico Vega makes music for rockers and intellectuals alike.

Writing the songs is a collaborative effort. In fact, the band has a strong sense of teamwork, a "we're all in this together" sort of approach. This is evident even in their lyrics: "These walls between man are built off of fear of each other...when will we see that we are stuck with each other?" More importantly, it's evident in the way the different elements of their songs resonate together. "I like it best when Rich spends time with his guitar and comes up with something really fluid, and I like to just come in and write over that," Aja says. "It doesn't even need to be arranged or touched. I love that. I like to write everything in one sitting, because I'm usually on a train of thought, and I feel like if I break that sometimes it's hard to get back to it. And a lot of times the three of us will just [compose] together in a room. Rich will start playing and Dan will come up with a drum beat that accommodates it really well, and that will inspire me to sing something."

Nico Vega's description on MySpace hints at a spiritual element to the band—not spiritual as in religious, but more like a connection to something larger. "I guess we all are pretty spiritual people in a sense," Aja tells me when I ask about this. "We're definitely interested in taking responsibility for being a human being. You can either be asleep or awake, and I think we all choose to try to be awake, and conscious of what's happening around us, conscious of each other, and conscious of how we can have a positive impact on people that listen to our music. It's not just about doing what we think is cool, but doing what we feel is right." Don't let the good vibes fool you though—Nico Vega is pure aural assault, not new age nonsense.

Their original sound has already attracted one of the biggest names in the music industry, Linda Perry. Aja says, "She's a total badass. Working with her is just amazing." The band tried for some time to get their music to her with no luck. Then, just as they'd begun work on their new record with another producer, they got the call that Perry had heard their EP and wanted to meet with them. As chance would have it, the record didn't turn out as planned with the other producer. Nico Vega joined forces with Perry, who produced three tracks on their latest release: "Gravity," "Wooden Dolls," and "So So Fresh," which Perry describes as having a "really beautiful live vibe." Regarding the circuitous path of the project, Aja muses, "Things happen for a reason. They happen the way they're supposed to, and sometimes they just take longer to unfold."

Nico Vega (with the Von Bondies)
February 18, 8:00 PM
The Khyber, 56 S. 2nd Street
Tickets: $5 advance, $10 door, 21+

Image courtesy Nico Vega