Smooth as Vintage Velvet
Interview by Eddie Hogan

____When Vintage Velvet recently played for a fraternity formal, they wondered if these guys really wanted a jazz band. But they were so into it. Their dates were shrieking with joy when Vintage Velvet played "Whatever Lola Wants." There was a surge of to the dance floor during there Latin version of "Just the Way You Look Tonight" and "Fever." More squeals on "Witchcraft" and there may have been a child conceived during "The Look of Love." This music will just never be uncool.
____Vintage Velvet may have touched on something. They have joined a scant number of other bands of this genre to fill a void in the Charleston music market. Vocalist Regina Ruopoli took a few moments to give us the Vintage Velvet story.

I know you all worked in other projects in the past, but didn’t you (Regina & Jeff) step away from performing for a time, and what made you decide to get back into it?
____Jeff and I both stepped away from performing for awhile after our prior bands dissolved. I didn't intend to stay away for very long, and I don't think Jeff did either. I needed some time away because I was exhausted, but I knew I'd never leave the performing arts for good. I dabbled around and sang with friends here and there, including Jeff. I got married, taught myself to play guitar (sort of), wrote more songs, did some voiceover work and concentrated on my career in marketing. I know Jeff also never stopped playing completely.
____What sparked my desire perform again was when I was at a convention in Arkansas. My travel partners and I were having drinks one evening in this upscale Art Deco hotel bar. There was a jazz trio playing on the stage. My friends knew I was a singer and kept pushing me to do a song with the band. Being a perfectionist, I'm always leery of unrehearsed performances, but after a few drinks, I approached the band and they were more than pleased to shake their evening up. I sang "Since I Fell For You" and I didn't want to stop. I felt as if I was shimmering inside. It felt so right and natural and comfortable to be making music again. I know it sounds cliched, but singing can be an ethereal experience. It feeds my soul. It's a good thing that enough people find my voice pleasant because I'd still sing even if they didn't.

How did the current line-up come together?
____My husband, Frank, decided that he wanted to learn to play bass. I encouraged him, but said that we should probably never work together. He started noodling around with our good friend and guitarist, Steve Coe, just for fun. They played a lot of old Ventures tunes and easy songs, which helped Frank develop his skills. Then the three of us started messing around with some of my favorite tunes from groups like The Cowboy Junkies, the Sundays, Natalie Merchant and Patsy Cline as well as some jazz standards. We would just play whatever song we wanted, with no genre in mind. It was just for fun, but then after we started sounding pretty good we asked our longtime friend, Jeff, to join us. He really tightened us up musically and made us pick a genre. We serendipitously bumped into Phill Eason of Sol Driven Train, who was our drummer until he left to tour full time with his other band. Through Phill we found Nick Jenkins, who has settled in nicely as our drummer. It's a great group of creative people who genuinely enjoy each other's company, even outside of playing music. Oh, and I was wrong about not working with my spouse...it rocks.

The musical backgrounds and influences of all of the members are pretty diverse. How does that help or hurt considering the style of music you do?
____There are so many common threads within those diverse interests that I don't think it makes a difference. In the end we all agree on the most important thing: That it's all about the song. Not about vocal feats or extended solos or pushing a tune to unrecognizable limits. We want to play the song and play it in the most accessible way possible. To share it unselfishly. It's the same feeling you get when making a mix CD of your favorite songs to give to someone you think will like them too. It's like "You've GOT to hear these songs. They're exquisite."

Do all of you have input on the songlist and if so, is there anything someone may have suggested that the rest of you said, “I don’t know if that fits,” but in the end it worked out for you?
____It's a pretty democratic process, although I probably bring more songs to the table being the primary singer. We all have a good feel for what will work for our style. We'll try almost anything that catches our ears. And we're not afraid to take a pop song and make it jazzy, such as Elvis Costello's "Watching the Detectives." The bigger challenge is just carving out the time to learn all the music on our "to learn" list.
____We try to stay away from the overdone standards, but we give in if we get repeated requests. We finally started doing "At Last" after we saw one too many disappointed looks on a requester's face. And being from Charleston, you can't not do "Summertime."

Because in print we don’t have the luxury of a soundbite, describe Vintage Velvet’s sound.
____Well, here's what I just settled on for our promo kit: Embracing the swinging jazz standards of Frank Sinatra, the seductive torch songs of Etta James, and the sassy style of Peggy Lee, Vintage Velvet offers retro jazz and blues, but with a modern twist. They're simply the cat's meow.

This is the perfect band for a wedding or social event, but people don’t know that without hearing you first. What plan did you have for getting the name out there and getting some people to hear you?
____Marketing yourself is so important. We've played some high profile special events for free or at a bargain rate just for the PR. I've sent mailings to all the event planners in town. We've developed relationships with booking agents. We carry business cards at every club gig, where we are often asked about playing for an event. We network with people we know through our corporate jobs. Our web site is linked with some other key sites and we're getting some good word-of-mouth referrals. It's a neverending process, but we've seen a steady increase in this segment.
____With weddings we really want to be clear about the bride and groom's vision because we're not the kind of band that plays the Chicken Dance or the Electric Slide. Not that there's anything wrong with that. ;-) We're not background music, but we're not a party band. We're entertaining and fun, but not obtrusive. That's actually hard to find in this area.

The look and the music isn’t what we might call every day Charleston club fare. How hard was it to convince club owners to give you a shot?
____There are a couple of venues in Charleston where our style and size has fit in perfectly. The bigger dilemma is being a five-piece jazz band because clubs usually only have the budget and space for up to three. We've played a couple of places as a three and four-piece, which is fun, but we prefer the impact of the full group. Retro is still hot nationally, but in the South it sometimes feels like you're constantly competing with beach music. The invigorating thing is wherever we've played, people truly dig us ... young, old and in-between. Places as diverse as Zinc, Torch, East Bay Coffehouse, McCrady's Long Room, Little Thai Too, Cisco's and Boone Hall -- we've succeeded in all of them. It think it's because we keep it fun and playful and saucy.

I understand that your press kit, which is the most impressive I’ve seen in years, might have been too good and led owners to assume they couldn’t afford you.
____Frank is not only a bass player, but also a professional graphic designer. A really good one. He designed the kits and our web site to reflect our image and to compete for those private events. I think it has scared a few club owners, but once we sit down and talk with them it's usually not an obstacle. We'd hate to maintain two versions of it, but maybe we should consider doing that.

You’ve been playing around town in clubs so far. Do you intend to branch out and maybe try to hit some of the nearby cities like Savannah or Columbia?
____It would be great to branch out occasionally, but our crazy schedules make overnight trips difficult for most of us. We almost got booked for job in the Bahamas playing for the grand opening party of the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean II and III. My cousin works for the film company. Keith Richards with Johnny Depp would have been there. It didn't work out, but that's what I call a road trip!

Any plans for a recorded project?
____We recorded 3 songs in the studio for our demo. We'd like to do more, and we plan to make a live recording soon. Even though they're technically cover songs, our versions are pretty unique and we play many lesser known tunes so lots of people have been asking for CD's.
____ As much as I love jazz, playing original music is something I do miss. I still write sometimes and want to do more of it. I have a couple of bluesy songs we might incorporate soon. Jeff has a side project for his original music, so he gets his singer/songwriter kicks through that. He's an extremely gifted songwriter.

Don't miss your chance to hear the smooth sounds of Vintage Velvet. Check out the Club and Concert Calendar for future dates.