Artist Spotlight: VISTA

Photo+of+VISTA+submitted+by+Holly+Turner.

Photo of VISTA submitted by Holly Turner.

Shalene Hixon, Contributor

VISTA is a band that is relatively new, but are on their way to becoming a big name.

The Long Island rock band is the creation of lead singer Hope Vista, who after an almost decade-long solo career decided to venture into the world of rock bands.

Originally comprised of Vista, Brian Canfield and Wolf Reiter, the band released their first single, “On the Brink” on Mar. 4, 2016. A few months later, they released their debut EP, Versus, on May 13, 2016.

Not long after the release, Canfield and Reiter left the band and were replaced by Greg Almeida (guitar) and Matthew Vlossak (drums). The trio spent the rest of 2016 creating new music and on Jan. 13, released the single, “Henchmen,” off their sophomore EP.

VISTA wrote “Henchmen” with the theme revolving around oppression in today’s society. There were numerous world events in 2016 that inspired the band to write a song that was an anthem for those who felt like they didn’t have a voice. The song garnered praise from numerous websites, including Pop Dust, Girl’s Life and Idobi.

On the same night “Henchmen” was released, VISTA opened for Against the Current at Irving Plaza in New York City. Shortly after the show, Vlossak announced his departure from the band. Vista and Almeida are the only remaining members of VISTA, but they didn’t let this stop them from continuing to work on their next EP.

To give fans a taste of the new EP, VISTA released their second single, “Allegiance” on May 19.

On July 21, VISTA released their sophomore EP, Long Live. It was met with both critical and fan acclaim on social media and websites like Celeb Mix. The band then went on the Long Live Tour, which started on Aug. 10 and ended on Aug. 23 and hit cities like Richmond, Nashville, Atlanta and Boston.

While VISTA may not be a household name just yet, their anthem rock sounds and strong songs cannot be denied. Their passion and love for music is a good sign that we will be seeing more of them in the near future.

If you want to learn more about VISTA and their music, visit their Spotify page or find them on their various social media pages.

Twitter- @ThisIsVISTA

Facebook- @VISTAband

Website- www.vistaband.co