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<\/a>Vaccaro says that choosing how people spend their limited time is \u201cthe ultimate gift\u201d and that, for him, the answer is music. He says that with So Long Wicked Tide<\/i>, he spent more time than he had in the past working on the composition of the songs. His music was the shelter he found to ride out\u2014but also embrace\u2014the storm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was kind of like my safety,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause it\u2019s really disorientating to lose a parent. I didn\u2019t have a great relationship with him. He was incredibly absent for a long, long time and it was a really volatile relationship that was painful and abusive. When he was really sick, he turned his whole life around, and it was like, \u2018Holy shit.\u2019 He kind of looked at me for the first time and saw what I was. And that\u2019s what the song \u2018I Was Alive\u2019 is about.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other albums, such as 79<\/i>, <\/i>Vaccaro comes from a more straightforward standpoint, he says, but his lyrical themes remain consistent. And singing the words to all his songs live is more important now than ever, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying is now the only thing left for us to make a living,\u201d says Vaccaro, adding that he gets less than a cent every time a song is streamed on Spotify.<\/p>\n
Vaccaro says that for years, he made a comfortable living off his art, selling between $400 and $1,200 of merchandise at every concert, but times have changed for musicians. He says that many people don\u2019t care about having something tangible with their art nowadays; it\u2019s been replaced by an expectation of free access, which means that, for the first time in 10 years, he\u2019s having to look elsewhere for work.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredible that I was able to live off my art, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair to require that of your art,\u201d says Vaccaro. \u201cIt\u2019s like screaming at an invisible spirit that gets you music, \u2018Make money for me!\u2019 It\u2019s like, \u2018No, that\u2019s not why I\u2019m here. I\u2019m here to help you make sense of things and I\u2019m here to help you express what you\u2019re experiencing as a human.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking back on his own love of music, Vaccaro remembers skipping school one day as a kid to wait in line at local record store Lyle\u2019s Place. Vaccaro describes the day as \u201ca serious mission.\u201d The desired object in question? Pearl Jam\u2019s Vitalogy<\/i> on vinyl.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been so many records that have helped me through stuff,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m a little bit old school and I buy the record or I will buy the MP3. I buy that shit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaccaro continues to work through the ebbs and flows of the creative process. Music is his centre. His next album will be heavier, keeping in line with what he grew up listening to. But through it all, he keeps his focus clear and simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just a guy playing guitar and writing songs,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n