Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A Pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and nonbinary queer activist Alexander Millar (they/them/he) is Vattica and Vattica is poised to make big waves across the alt-rock scene. By combining 90's alternative with punk and industrial with a steady heaping of mental health awareness, Vattica is on the cutting-edge of tomorrow. Check out the single “Back to Life” below and then take a look at our Roll of the Dice interview with Andrew about Vattica, the future and the toxicity built into the idea of being self-made.
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview and congrats, on the recent release of “BACK TO LIFE.” What should our readers know about VATTICA and about the new single?
Thanks for having me! Readers should know that “BACK TO LIFE” is about my struggles with mental health, specifically OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and Anxiety. The first 2/3 of it are written from the perspective of my OCD, with the last chorus written as me reclaiming my own mind. I know from personal experience how agonizing it is to be tormented by my own brain, and I hope that folks going through similar struggles will find some comfort in this song.
For our readers who aren't yet familiar with your TikTok series “Self-made is a toxic myth,” what can you tell us about the series and the ideology upon which it is based?
Absolutely. “Self Made is a Toxic Myth” investigates how the systems of white supremacy shape the popular music industry, both historically and presently. I focus on how toxic individuality, a byproduct of capitalism and a core tenant of white supremacy, drives the narrative of how we speak, write, and think about the concept of “success” in popular music, specifically as it pertains to the myth of the “self made” artist/group. Something that I've learned from BIPOC activists is that no one in the history of humanity is “self made”, everyone is community made. Each of us is a product of all of the people and events that came before us, plus whichever rung on the privilege ladder we happen to have been born into, plus which point in the timeline we were born into, plus all the people that we connect with throughout the course of our lives. The very term and concept of “self made” was coined by white supremacist human trafficker and United States senator Henry Clay in 1842, which is definitely a person I don't think anyone should aspire to emulate. I bet Elon Musk really loves him though.
Another project with which you are heavily involved in the Good Trouble Makers, what is the mission of that collective, and how can our readers learn more/help?
Good Trouble Makers (GTM), led by my awesome partner Kai Hazelwood, is a group of queer artist-agitators spinning a web of community and creative mischief, through collaboration, across the world. GTM is a flexible collaborative that invites creative relationships with individuals or communities, for a moment, a season, or a lifetime. Inspired by the words of John Lewis, Good Trouble Makers are committed to making; making art, making room, making change, and making good trouble. Folks can learn more at https://goodtroublemakers.com
Nobody can argue that the world has certainly been through some shit over the last few years (decades? centuries?). How has the cultural and political landscape affected your songwriting?
I've always been far-left politically and passionate about it, going to protests, posting stuff on social media, signing petitions and voting in state elections not just national ones. But even so I didn't realize how much more I needed to learn and do until I met my partner Kai. She opened the door for me into the world of anti-racist learning and activism in such countless ways that I'd never even considered or known about before, mostly out of ignorance because there's so much in our society that doesn't touch me as a person inhabiting a white body. Yes, I'm queer and nonbinary, but I am still white. I'd never been a fan of the police industrial complex or the military industrial complex, or capitalism. I've always been for equal rights for all. But I didn't understand that I still thought of myself as separate from all the systems of oppression, and that the reason I thought that is because those systems treat me like an individual. That's a privilege that no one but white folks have in this country. The murder of Mr. George Floyd in 2020 galvanized me to really begin in earnest the work of unlearning my own internalize white supremacy, which I will be doing for the rest of my life. Isn't that sad? That it took something that horrible to reach me? To make me pay attention? As a nerd, an analogy I like to use is that, as white folks, each of us thinks that we're one of the Rebels in Star Wars. We all think that we're the main characters. When you start doing the work you realize that you've actually been a stormtrooper for the Empire this whole time. That in fact the Empire was designed with you in mind. No matter how well-meaning you are, if you're white you benefit directly and indirectly from the systems of white supremacy, both historically and currently, and do harm both by participating in them and being ignorant of them. The question then becomes “what do I do with this information”? I've found that as my knowledge continues to grow, so too does my activism. So while I've always written my share of political songs, these days I'm much more interested in direct action. How can I use the music and media that I create to do my part to help bring around an abolitionist post-capitalist society? How can I use the many privileges that I have as a white artist to open doors and create opportunities for BIPOC folks while de-centering myself as much as possible? I realize that there is a certain amount of hypocrisy in talking about de-centering myself during an interview, but my artist self is a huge part of who I am, and if it affords me some small measure of reach or influence then I want to use it to disrupt the systems of power that we all live under as much as possible for as long as I live.
One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?
See? Here's a great opportunity to for me to highlight some folks!
Cheyenne Amen is an amazing Afro Future Soul Funk artist:
GLIFOS is a rad Afro Voodoo Funk band:
Lady A is a superb Blues R&B artist. Infuriating story about Lady A; she's currently in ongoing litigation with the racist band Lady Antebellum for the rights to her own name, which she's been using long before Lady Antebellum changed theirs. I did a TikTok about it you can watch here: https://www.tiktok.com/@vattica/video/7031320601339923718
SATE is a killer Rock artist:
Tim Russ is a terrific Blues artist (fun fact: he also played Tuvok on Star Trek Voyager!):
In fact there are so many great indie BIPOC artists out there that I made a playlist that I regularly update with new finds! Go check it out here:
Now that the world has its hands on “BACK TO LIFE,” what's next for VATTICA?
I'll be continuing to release singles and trying to hack the TikTok algorithm!
Was there anything I missed that you'd like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
Yes! OCD is incredibly isolating. It's not a fun, quirky personality trait as is so often depicted in popular media. For the folks that have it and their loved ones that know they're going through it, it's agonizing. And I just want them to know that they're seen and that they're not alone. That treatment is out there (it's called ERP). That there are resources. For example the podcast The OCD Stories is a great resource and it's available on all platforms: https://theocdstories.com/. So to all of those folks, I'm rooting for you. You can do it. You're stronger than you think you are.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed's musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he's self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/