Spokane’s Vika & The Velvets take indie blues rock across the nation

Over the past few years, Olivia Vika has become one of the faces of Spokane’s music scene. As the frontwoman and lead singer of Vika & The Velvets, she and her bandmates have created a vintage yet fresh sound and aesthetic unlike anything else the Inland Northwest has to offer.

Vika’s sound is reminiscent of soulful, psychedelia-infused rock filled with smoky hues, precisely nostalgic imagery, and a dark richness done with enough vigor to create soothing yet intense and unique concepts. In the modern era, she chases the authentic coarseness of the past.

Vika usually describes her and the band’s genre as “blues-rock,” but arguments can be made to include the hints of jazz (mostly produced by longtime saxophonist Rogan Tinsley) and indie-rock found within their music, both of which can be traced back to some of Vika’s first musical discoveries.

Like many, Vika spent much of her youth listening to radio hits and the average pop song. But at 13, as she distinctly recalls while sitting at an outdoor table at Arctos Coffee, her older brother Caleb showed her a “huge collection of music.”

“I didn’t really know what music could be,” Vika said. “That opened up a whole new door for me, and I started to be way more interested in music and in playing it.”

From that initial moment, she cites artists like Billy Holiday and Neil Young as well as multiple jazz and indie groups like Coin and Hippocampus. Since, she has also developed a deep love and respect for perhaps her primary inspirations, Shannon Shaw of Shannon and the Clams as well as the late Amy Winehouse. For anybody who has seen Vika live, it’s not difficult to hear the Winehouse influence with the deep and passionate vocals, strong enunciations, and fervent stage presence found in both.

Over the past few years, Vika has found herself not only more confident as an artist, but more honest as well. Since embracing her “own differences,” she has been able to find the emotional places her lyrics come from and channel them into song in a way that listeners can immediately appreciate.

“A lot of it comes from a sentimental place,” Vika said. “Along with longing and desire, heartbreak, hope, memories …”

Although Vika and the band’s sound has grown increasingly tight and noticeably seasoned, the formation of the songs still “comes in waves.”

Usually, a melodic progression on the guitar starts it all. From there, a general storyline is chosen, and various ideas are tossed around and incorporated by the band. In studio, the band is breezy yet honest – a combination that continues to produce results.

“It varies,” lead guitarist Eric Kennedy said. “Sometimes we’ll sit down and try to write something, and other times the inspiration seems so effortless and happens at a moment’s notice … you can’t really force it.”

Moments like those are what created two of the band’s most recent and popular singles, “Lovers Liquor Store” and “Lovely Little Game,” the latter of which was a product of Vika combining forces with the same person who began her love for music in the first place – her older brother Caleb.

With the band’s ongoing growth and increase in quality comes the ability to branch out. After being a staple of the Spokane scene, Vika & the Velvets have spent a fair portion of 2024 playing outside of the city.

Throughout the year they have played shows in Seattle and along the coast, had three gigs at Boise’s Treefort Music Festival, and have an upcoming show in Salt Lake City at Kilby Court.

Vika and the group are focused on creating a full-length album – and doing it right.

“We’re starting from scratch and really trying to cultivate a specific energy within a group of songs,” Vika said. “We’re trying to make something that all fits together and really aren’t trying to rush it.”

With hitting this stride, Vika believes it is finally time to explore bigger and better things. It’s not exactly a secret that “making it” from within Spokane is much easier said than done. Seattle’s historic and bustling music scene, on the other hand, may just be where Vika’s future lies.

“I feel like I finished what I started here,” Vika said. “Now I feel like I’m at a place where I can move on and do something more; do something different.”

Until then, Vika & The Velvets will continue to do what they have done on one of the highest levels for years now – play Spokane.