Fanatic Promotion: VAS VEGA gets hip-hop remix feat. Drex and Fresco P.; Preps live shows for Canada, NYC.

Friday, July 22, 2011

VAS VEGA gets hip-hop remix feat. Drex and Fresco P.; Preps live shows for Canada, NYC.

Remix video cuts up Caine’s “Get Carter”; Band gives insight into lyrics of “The Living Dead”.

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VAS VEGA (L-R): Mark LeRoy, Jordan Holman. Photo by: Jeff Cheong and Mae Tsui.

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PLAY, POST & SHARE

“The Living Dead (Remix)” (feat. Drex and Fresco P.) Produced by Harrison & Hagler.

[SOUNDCLOUD]: http://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/vas-vega-the-living-dead-remix

[VIDEO]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9-8sK6Cjsg

[MP3]: http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/projects/vasvega/mp3/vas-vega-the-living-dead-remix.mp3

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VAS VEGA Live

07/23 Montreal, PQ @ Petit Cafe Campus 1030PM, 57 Prince Arthur Est.

07/24 Quebec City, PQ @ L’agiteE 930PM, 251 Rue Dorchester

07/25 New York, NY @ The Delancey 950PM, 168 Delancey St.

07/26 New York, NY @ The Fortune Cookie Lounge 24 1st Ave (btw 1st & 2nd St.)

07/28 Moncton, NB @ Plan B Lounge 9PM, 212 St. George St.

07/29 Halifax, NS @ The Seahorse Tavern 1665 Argyle Street, 9PM

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VAS VEGA’s debut single “The Living Dead” is already inspiring reinterpretations. The Toronto-based duo of Mark LeRoy and Jordan Holman met producers Harrison & Hagler and rappers Drex and Fresco P. through The Remix Project, an initiative in Toronto that was created to help level the playing field for young people from disadvantaged, marginalized and under served communities looking to make it in this field.

The result is an outstanding version of the song which actually helps bring light to the deeper lyrical content of the tune. LeRoy explains, saying, “When we worked on the remix, Harrison & Hagler put a gun shot after the insane verse that Fresco P. lays down. In doing this, they chose to address the theme of suicide in the song’s hook: ‘Suicide is the rite of the living dead.’ The idea of suicide in the song is in direct relation to the play on the word ‘rite,’ being a ceremonial action and ‘right,’ being one’s just claim.”

LeRoy is describing the only way out for the characters in his song, people lost in the land of make-believe, trapped in their own visions that have deceived them. This concept is well-illustrated in the original video for “The Living Dead,” but it was after the completion of the remix of the song that LeRoy realized the similarity between the narrative of the tune and one of his favorite films, the 1971 Michael Caine thriller, “Get Carter.” “Michael Caine’s character is ruthless, brutal and twisted; unknowingly ‘the living dead.’ ‘Get Carter’ and the remix of ‘The Living Dead’ were made for one another, even if forty years apart,” says LeRoy.

VAS VEGA launched a series of Canadian tour dates this week and will travel to NYC for two shows next week. At the band’s show in Toronto on Tuesday, they were joined onstage by Drex and Fresco P. to perform “The Living Dead” remix live. Based on the response to the re-imagined track, more versions of “The Living Dead” are sure to surface. VAS VEGA is in on the act as well, prepping an acoustic piano version of the song. The band is also currently preparing to release a follow-up single and video.

Jordan Holman and Mark LeRoy of VAS VEGA are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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