Review Fix Exclusive: Dave Vargo Talks Crooked Miles And More

Review Fix chats with Dave Vargo, who discusses his new album and so much more.

Review Fix: How is this CD different than your previous work?

Dave Vargo: This CD might be a little more on Indie Rock side of Americana than my previous work.

Review Fix: What else did you do on here that you haven’t done anywhere else?

Vargo: This is the first of my albums to include a cowritten song. Vanish in the Light was written with my friend Danielle Marrone.

Review Fix: Are you excited to play this one live?

Vargo: I have been performing the songs solo. Just me and an acoustic guitar. It would be great to break out the electric guitars and get loud with a full band!

Review Fix: You’ve won over a ton of people with your sound over the years. What do you think you do that makes you unique?

Vargo: I am probably not that unique. But I do try to bring everything I can to each project. It’s very important to me to put out music that’s good top to bottom. I want each album to be a collection of strong songs. No fillers or throw away songs.

Review Fix: What’s the track on this album you’re most proud of?

Vargo: They are all my babies, lol. But if I had to pick one it would probably be Back Then. I think that I came up with a really good opening lyric- “Never been a father. No longer a son.”

Review Fix: What set of lyrics were the hardest for you to write?

Vargo: Probably Empty Space. My dog Bella, who had been at my side while I had written all of my songs, cancer had come back and I knew that her days were numbered. The lyrics are mostly about imagining life without her.

Review Fix: Any stories behind any of these tunes you feel like sharing?

Vargo: The stem of the idea for my song Best Version came from a rather mundane moment at the dry cleaners that I frequent every week when I looked out across the highway at patch of land that used to be a lush wooded area. Suddenly, a la Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” the trees were gone and I saw a convenience store and gas station were going up. The line “History’s gone/nobody cares” evolved into a reflection on the different histories we create for ourselves throughout our lives.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Vargo: I am heading back into the studio later this month to start a new project. I will be producing, arranging, and performing on an EP for songwriters Scott Rubine & Jay Weiner. I am also planning to hit the road in September to play some shows.

mm
About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*