Vic Anselmo is a Gothic/Alternative singer and songwriter. A great invention, stunning voice and wide musical horizon let her find her own special ways in creating music. Her songs sound like a soundtrack to dreams. They are very sensual and would amaze you with their dynamic contrasts and sound variety. All that comes together with an impressive onstage image. Vic Anselmo is bound to be the first Latvian alternative lady to be known outside the Baltic States. Her debut album “Trapped in a Dream” was released in Europe on October 10th 2008 and is being destributed by the German label Omniamedia. Vic Anselmo was born in 1985 on March 21st in Riga, Latvia. From her childhood she was inspired by a lot of different music, first by Blues, Country, Soul. Later it was Rock, Grunge, Progressive, Goth, and Metal. At the age of ten Vic Anselmo went to a music school to learn to play the piano and started writing her own songs. Later she taught herself to play guitar. When Vic Anselmo was about 16, she formed her first real band. Then the real story began. Vic Anselmo performed many live shows with her band in the Baltic States, shared the stage with such big names as Danny Cavanagh (Anathema), Mick Moss (Antimatter), Tito & Tarantula. Her songs appeared at high positions in local radio charts. In September 2006 Vic Anselmo released a demo CD “Beverly”. In 2007 she performed several shows in Germany and the UK. In March 2008 Vic Anselmo recorded her debut album “Trapped in a Dream,” which was released in autumn 2008 by her own management (Vic Anselmo Management) and distributed in Europe by Omniamedia.
Vic Anselmo about her music: “As I was growing up, getting more experience, looking deeply into myself, trying to find a way of expressing myself in music, my mind came to the idea of dreams. A lot of significant moments in my life are connected with them. When I was low, the dreams were my escape from reality. I settled my problems in my dreams, I kept dreaming, and the dreams always encouraged me in my darkest hour. My songs are my revelations and at the same time my attempts of imagining the dreams of other people. There is a large variety of sounds in my music and a lot of contrasts: from melodic to expressive vocals, from crying electric to melodic acoustic guitars, from live instruments to electronic sounds… The music holds elements of gothic, rock, folk - the dreams are so different… My band and me are trying to give the right atmosphere to every song, to every dream it tells about…”
Some facts: Vic Anselmo is Victoria’s stage name. Once her friends started to nickname her because of her addiction to Pantera (American metal band). Vic comes from Victoria; Anselmo is the surname of Pantera’s vocalist Phil Anselmo. Among Vic Anselmo’s favourite acts the following should be mentioned: Pantera, Porcupine Tree, Devin Townsend, Lisa Gerrard, Tori Amos etc. Vic Anselmo will appear in the new book of the British music journalist Mick Mercer. He has also reviewed her song “Before I Could Breathe” from the upcoming album: “VIC ANSELMO do beautiful achey pop with ‘Before I Could Breathe’ and I trudged in a sullen fashion to my master copy to see if I’d included her in my new book, fearing the worse, but I had! (Damn, but I’m good!) It’s very commercial and conventional, and just sweeps you away, gloriously.”
Mick Mercer 3 times Vic Anselmo was honoured as the best vocalist in local contests for young artists. Her debut album “Trapped in a Dream” has been produced by two members of the Latvian Progressive Death Metal band Neglected Fields, Herman Rigmant & George Kadolchik, and engineered by Gints Lundbergs, who is known as a producer for the Latvian folk metal band Skyforger.
