Vanessa Gimenez

Name, where are you from?
Vanessa Gimenez, Spanish/Scottish. Born and raised in Camden.

Describe your style in three words?
Cinematic, chill and introspective.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
Glastonbury 2019. My old band and I played that year and it also happened to be the first festival I’d ever been to. I learnt so much about performance from that experience alone that it has to be my favourite ‘gig’. Some of my favourite artists from the weekend include Sharon Van Etten and Christine and the Queens who I discovered late whilst studying at university.

If you could be on the line up with any two artists in history?
Nina Simone and Pink Floyd. Nina Simone is one of my favourite vocalists of all time and Pink Floyd was always playing in our flat whilst growing up. Any excuse to see them live.

Which Subcultures have influenced you?
Emo and grunge subcultures influenced me massively as a kid. I would listen to Paramore, Nirvana and Three Days Grace obsessively in this phase. My friends laugh because I still wear eyeliner and hoodies to this day but I don’t really listen to those bands anymore, unless I’m feeling nostalgic or I’m on my period.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
One hour would probs not be enough time, but I’d love to sit with Johnny Cash and talk songwriting.

Of all the venues you’ve been to, which is your favourite?
The Roundhouse. It’s like home to me. As a kid, I’d go to all their music-related half-term/holiday projects. I owe those guys a tonne, they helped me develop as an artist and as a human being. I remember being invited to the iTunes festival there every year and watching artists that I’d dreamed of seeing live like The XX and Norah Jones.

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
Josiah and the Bonnevilles. Songwriting king.