Vivek Shraya

I am happy to report that Keys & Machines is inching towards the finish line. It’s easy to lose faith during crunch time but Meg has been knocking shit out of the ball park, making a believer out of me over and over and over again. Lots of video chatting happening. This is how records are made in the 09. We also have a new team member on board! Bryan Cook (Beck, Nigel Godrich, Inara George) is mixing the project and having his ears and skillz is taking everything to the next level. So pumped. A release date/tracklisting will be announced in the very near future!

In other news, I have also been working on a small book, entitled God Loves Hair and you can now read all about it here!

I bought my first synthesizer in the fall of 2007 and like most new technology I invest in, iPods not included, it sat quietly in some corner for months before I stopped being intimidated of it. A new instrument can be an extraordinary tool, opening new doors, summoning new inspiration. In/Out is the first song I wrote on the synth after I got around to doing more than turning it on and twiddling with the knobs to impress my friends, one of the 30-something demos recorded after the release of If We’re Not Talking. I began to hear the song as a duet, with this idea that sometimes in a relationship *both* parties can be equally unsatisfied, equally unsure. Meghan Toohey produced the track and being a super fan of her voice, I blackmailed her into singing on it as well. (Ok fine. I just got her really drunk.)

So now after months and months of sitting on it, we are thrilled to finally share it with YOU on MySpace, the first single off of Keys & Machines!

Things look pretty different in these parts thanks to my dedicated webmaster/brother from another (whiter) mother Simon Crowley!

I met Simon in 2002 through my “real” brother (or via creeping his LiveJournal, depending on who you ask). My guess is that it was our joint megaboner for Radiohead that compelled him to offer to design a website for me. I am not sure he realized what he was getting himself into. What you see here today is the the 5th(!!) incarnation of VS.com.

Below is a little walk through memory lane. You da best Zo.

Like all contemporary love affairs, Meghan Toohey and I met over MySpace. It was the summer of 06. We found that we had many things in common: a love for Joni Mitchell, nana’s gloves and hairy armpits. We decided the next natural step was to make a baby. A music baby. Our love was consummated in someone’s AWESOME mansion in Jamaica Plains. A short 5 months later If We’re Not Talking was born and we just couldn’t keep it to ourselves. We still can’t.

So it’s back on iTunes. Because your dance-parties-for-one wouldn’t be the same without it. Featuring your faves: Chemistry, Your Name (feat Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara), I Won’t Envy, Fevered and 5 more including this: