It is artist like Vernon Neilly that makes being a music reviewer a very cool job. Vernon and G-Fire combine the lush sounds of silky smooth jazz with the melodic grooves of the islands.
You’ve been around for a while—haven't you?
Yes I have been around the music business professionally for quite some time now. First as a musician performing with different artists, and bands, and eventually recording bands, and touring, producing, and working with some of the legendary names in the music business. Now as well as being an artist I own my own entertainment company, which through this company I release my own products a too.
Where do the ideas from your music come from?
The ideas come from a multitude of places, sometimes the mood that I am in reflects what I write, sometimes it is an experience that I want to convey, other times it is having a conscious idea about what I want to hear in a song context, so my ideas evolve from different sources.
How did your group G-Fire come together?
The G-Fire concept was something that I developed out of wanting to have other very talented guitarists have a platform to be heard on a global scale. These talented musicians who are a part of the G-Fire series, are also people who have worked with some of the top talent in the world, but have always been behind the scenes, so I wanted to give them the opportunity to display their talents as artists!
How do you grow in such a situation and still accommodate everybody’s vision or sound?
You grow by allowing the different artists the freedom to express themselves musically, and compositionally. Since each artists voice is different, you can learn a lot about their sound, their writing, at the same time everyone gets to express how they feel inside musically.
How do you think that your music has evolved since you started playing? The music has gotten more mature in all aspects, writing, playing ability, sound, maturity of ideas, and how to express them to convey to the listener what it is that you are trying to say with each composition.
How easy is it for you to stop adding and tweaking the sound and say, 'this is the best I can make it'?
This is always a challenge because as an artist, and producer, you always want the music to sound the absolute best that it can be. There comes a time though in this process where you have to trust your judgment artistically, sonically, and technically to say ok this is happening, and it wont get any better than this.
How does life experience come into play with your music?
It plays a massive role of course, because it is your experience in your life and what you have gone through that has brought you to this point. It's hard to know where you are going if you don’t remember where you have been, and what it has taken to get you there. Music is a journey, and that’s what enables you to keep coming up with different ideas, because the journey along the way varies a lot.
What kind of listener do you feel the album will appeal to most?
To be perfectly honest with you there is music on both G-Fire projects that people who love good music will like regardless of genre, because both of the projects are both very diverse in styles, and music. I am not saying that everyone will like all of the music on the projects, but I am saying that there will be something on each project that they will like because of the diversity.
The trend nowadays seems to be for the strangest possible hobby while you are not recording. Do any of you have any particularly strange hobbies or interests?
I am a sports enthusiast, but not extreme kind of sports. I am pretty much one of those straight forward kind of people. I love to have fun but not the kind that’s going to endanger me in any kind of way. I like film, and have always been a movie buff, I am in the process of learning how to edit films, and video footage. I also like the financial world, I find that very interesting.
What do you hope people walk away remembering when they hear your music? Other than man—I gotta buy that dude’s cd?
When people hear the music on the projects that I put out, I want them to be taken on musical journey, not just listen to a group of songs that don’t seem to have any context together. I want them to walk away saying wow that was good; to feel that they were caught up in the music, and the music did something for them cerebrally, and internally.
What do you hope people walk away remembering when they hear you play live?
I want people to remember, that this artist, and his band really know how to entertain people, to make them feel like they were part of the event. I want them to walk away saying that I had a great time with this artist, we really enjoyed that moment in time with that artist!
The latest cd on from Vernon and G-Fire is titled G-Fire II. If you’re into smooth jazz infused with the peacefulness of the islands than this is the cd for you. I find the G-Fire II is a great accompaniment to a good bottle of Red Wine (I also recommend Yellow Tail Shiraz), scented candles, and a hot l bath with lots and lots of bubbles—get situated—and let G-Fire float you into another realm of existence. Sharing your experience is optional.
Check out Vernon and G-Fire at
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