GET FAMILIAR: Gingervitus — Vermont Hip Hop

Somehow, I managed to sleep on the duo of (rapper) Gingervitus and (producer/engineer) Flywlkr until the release of their NOVA EP earlier this year. It was one hell of a strong introduction — a massive wall of sound from a creative, confident team. It reminded me of discovering Alabaster Samovars or 99 Neighbors. Not that they sound anything like those two acts, but precisely because they sound so different from anything else in the BTV scene right now.

Naturally, I had to catch up with the young emcee and talk shop about how all this came together.

VTHH: Growing up in the middle of the BTV scene, what was your introduction to Vermont hip hop?

Gingervitus: My first introduction into the local scene didn’t come until later in high school when I met a few friends who were spitting just for fun and had formed their own group called The Pak. I can’t say that I was too informed about the scene at that point, but it seems like as social media and the accessibility to music has blown up, there are a lot of people I new growing up who are taking their shot at the scene.

VTHH: So you didn’t really have any local influences starting out?

Gingervitus: I’d say my biggest influences have came from elsewhere. Around the time that I was starting to get an interest in creating my own music and The Weeknd’s House Of Balloons mixtape actually opened my eyes to a dark, intoxicating and atmospheric sound that he was envisioning and it very much inspired me. These days, Future is also one of my biggest inspirations. His energy and style are unmatched.

VTHH: Who do you consider your biggest influences, as emcees?

Gingervitus: I’d say Future has been inspiring me for a long time. He rightly gets a lot of credit for the energy he brings but he’s honestly a sensational writer and has the most infectious music. Other than that, Lupe Fiasco inspires me with the kind of poet he is. His The Cool album the reason I love hip-hop. He uses the beat as an opportunity to tell a story.

VTHH: How did you link up with Flywlkr?

Gingervitus: Flywlkr and I have been friends since kindergarten at JFK in Winooski. It wasn’t until high school when we started putting together songs for fun on school computers and iPhones with GarageBand. Fly is the architect of our sound. Wildly creative and just insanely talented.

VTHH: Do you feel like you've found your lane with electronica-heavy tracks, or are there other sounds you'd like to explore on future projects and releases?

Gingervitus: We like to create everything through our own spectrum, and have been working with R&B and pop as well. As an artist, I believe you should always be pushing your boundaries and trying new types of songs and we’ll keep pushing as far as we can go. With NOVA, we set out to make songs that painted a dark and unforgiving picture of what these cold Vermont nights make you feel. We love putting people in a position to make you feel a vibe no matter what genre were in.

VTHH: Do you feel like you're translating your studio work to a live performance context, or has that always been a focus in your creative process?

Gingervitus: I feel like we’re definitely attempting to bridge a gap between live and studio performance, specifically with our use of live auto-tune. It’s so important to me that you can encapsulate the feeling that you have from your studio work on stage so that the audience can put themselves in that space as well. To me, auto-tune is an instrument to making a song exactly as you want it to be.

VTHH: What are your goals as an artist from here?

Gingervitus: For us, the next goal is to find ways to reach more people with our music so that we can play our own shows and design things our own way. I think it’d be amazing to share the vibe we want to create with huge, energetic crowds.