Artist Spotlight is a segment that we started to introduce our listeners to some deserving up and coming artists/bands. They have made an impact on us for all of the right reasons. We think they kick ass and we hope you do too! Today we’d like to shine the spotlight on Vivian Marie Lamolli.
Vivian Marie Lamolli is a fiery CubaRican Afro-Latina who resides in sunny Los Angeles, CA. She is pursuing acting, singing, dancing, producing, and just beginning her directorial career and debut with a virtual film festival. She is best known for her role as “Fili” on Hulu’s East Los High, “Bella” in the film BODIED by Joseph Kahn and Eminem, and “Vanessa Del Rio” in the Warner Bros. feature film The Queen of Manhattan. You can also watch Viv on CBS Network’s S.W.A.T and as “Kitty” on Paramount Plus’ Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. She is also currently the host of the podcast “Single and Searching” on the Bill Bellamy Network and BET, which you can find on all platforms including but not exclusive to Spotify and Apple Music. Viv released her debut EP VIV, this past year and you can find it on all music platforms including Amazon Music, Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and so many more. Her first full performance of the album at the world-famous “Adults Only,” in the midst of the Hollywood music mecca will kick off in 2024. She will be rocking alongside incredibly talented artists in the 2024 Breaking Sound LA Kickoff of Emerging Musicians. You can also catch Viv this new year in the feature film The Answer To My Prayer, directed by Pat Perez and starring alongside Luis Fonsi and Jackie Cruz.
I’m Music Magazine’s Associate Editor/Writer Meesha Walden sat down with Vivian Marie Lamolli to talk about her latest projects. Here’s a little taste of our intimate conversation.
You just finished a run in Josefina Lopez’s Queen of the Rumba. How was that?
Viv: It was amazing. I feel blessed and grateful to have immersed myself in art that is so impactful to my culture and heritage. Really diving into my Cuban culture and learning so much that I was not necessarily made privy to as a child – the soul, style, symbolism, and meaning of the Rumba and what it means to be a Rumba dancer. It’s a style of dance, but more importantly a way of life in Cuba for Rumberos. It felt good to dive into my roots and give my heart and soul to dancing the rumba as Rosita the Afrolatina soul sister of Alicia Parla. The writer, Josefina Lopez, is brilliant. God willing, it seems like it’s going to Broadway and Josefina is no stranger to Broadway. She wrote “Real Women Have Curves.” America Ferrera starred in the film and now that’s going to Broadway as a musical. It’s nice to be able to expand our art and dive deeper. Musical theatre is my heart but at the same time, it’s nice to have the outlet of stage performances.
How did you get your start in music?
Music has always been my first love. I’ve just been so reluctant to put my words out there. I’ve occasionally thought, what voice do I have? I just say a lot of what other people write and it takes time to build that confidence and that trust within yourself. I started in the church with music. My mother is a singer. My father’s side of the family are singers as well. But primarily, my mom had us doing backup singing with her for our worship at church. When I was 8 or 9 years old, I went to band rehearsals with her just to be in the midst of it. Then I did talent shows when I turned fifteen. That led me to write my own songs and poems that eventually turned into pop songs.
I was influenced by pop singers, like Christina Aguilera. But even going further back than that, Mariah, and Whitney. But when I went to the University of Florida, that’s when musical theater changed my life. My very first lead in a show was for Godspell, and then HAIR almost at the very same time the revival was on Broadway…needless to say, I felt so aligned and ready to continue the journey.
What actors have inspired you?
My parents never really cared for musical theater unless it was, West Side Story so I never thought much about them… until I went to college and was so excited at the notion that I could sing my emotions! I had no idea this was an actual thing or even an actual career. It became visceral and became a real option for me, especially when I realized I was good at it.
The first show I did was Godspell. I grew up in a Christian household. And doing that musical and learning the music; I never knew what a musical director was, let alone a real director and choreographer. I learned the rehearsal process was grueling, but I really fell in love with it. I wanted to do every musical I could. I performed in the musicals Into The Woods and Hairspray.
My college thesis was on the musical Hair and it changed my life forever. It is such an amazing show. I can’t wait to be in a revival again. It’s so real and so raw. It’s about the counterculture and the Vietnam War. We were a group of hippies and my role was Dionne the slick street-smart sassy hipster. She was also the only woman of color within her group, except for a couple of her friends. Playing Dionne, coming out of the sixties, the fifties, and the sixties into the seventies made me realize how hard it was for previous generations, especially. In the musical, we were got to be so colorful and animated, truthful, spirited and grounded in our beliefs.
From there, I joined a couple of professional touring companies and got four gigs out of college that sent me traveling. And then I got a job in San Francisco with a theater company and we traveled the entire West Coast doing over a dozen musicals. It’s been a journey, that’s for sure.
The actors who have inspired my journey have the most beautiful, unique way of breathing life into a role where the average person wouldn’t take into account the countless hours these artists have experienced analyzing and EMBODYING the life of this character; some include but are not limited to Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy, Claire Danes, Jason Momoa, Viola Davis, Jacinda Barrett, Penelope Cruz, Benicio Del Toro, Reese Witherspoon, Rashida Jones…the list goes on.
Let’s about your debut self-titled EP Viv. What was your creative process like?
It’s wild because I’ve been able to dive into several different roles from television, film, and stage but I never really sat down and wrote my own story. I’ve started, stopped, delved into it a little bit and it scared me a little bit. After going through the relationship, and the year I went through last year, I’ve gained a lot of perspective on people in general. Protecting my energy and protecting my spirit and who I am. So going into writing this album, it came as a surprise to me. The way I was processing all of my feelings was through journaling. And they ended up coming out in song form.
With Viv, the very first song that I wrote for the EP stemmed from the breakup. I woke up at like 3:00 AM one day and it just came pouring out of me. The actual words that were said within our relationship, or things that my family had spoken with me about. And just the way I felt within that relationship of how hard it was to be seen or be heard, and to love someone so deeply but not recognize that you’re not being treated to the utmost value you should be treated. It makes you feel like you’re lacking and not enough.
That’s the song “Cruel” right? I loved that one!
That’s the one! And it means so much to me that you like that song. Just thinking about it makes me get emotional all over again. It was going to be a breakup project where I was releasing a lot of emotion. In the back of my head, I thought I wanted to stick it to someone and make them feel some type of way. But at the end of the day, it became more about me feeling everything and creating something out of what was such a beautiful disaster, so beautifully tragic in my own words and my truth. Then the really raw came; my “You Oughta Know” moment; My Taylor Swift moment. We all have that soft and subtle side, right? But then we also have this side, this is what I want to say right now. And that song is “You and I Won’t Be Friends.”
It’s all there in the title, but it gets very intimate in that I bring you into our bedroom. It’s disturbing, even to me, to listen to at times. Where it is so real, so in your face, not holding back. And it felt like I purged a lot with those two songs that it brought me back to feeling emotional and coming back to basics; to my inner child. I wanted to write about her and have that moment for myself and dedicate it to young girls everywhere in an ode to their hopes and dreams. A message encouraging them to stay true to who they are and believing in themselves.
So that is the intro of the EP called “Little Girl,” which my niece makes a little cameo on. I purged a lot and was able to feel the anger, the sadness, the fear, the frustration, all of that. It was so cathartic to put all that into words and really conquer “tread lightly” vibes or confusion in allowing my Inner Child to live, or just the story that I’ve always had within my own head as an artist moving to California.
“Se Siente Bien” is the only Spanish song on the EP. So, having come from the intro “Little Girl,” which is the third song written and recorded, I felt like just getting frisky again. Free-spirited, open, and happy– a lot of that comes from being Latina, as well. I’m Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Italian, and I really love being all of those things. So much vitality, so much spirit, so much saaauuuccceee chica. I wouldn’t trade it or change it for the world. So being a culmination of beautiful cultures I wanted to write something in Spanish and be able to sing it and really let loose. The song translates to, it feels good. It’s about getting outside of yourself and removing the barriers. Mustering up the courage to be with someone that you want to be with, and of course to let them know unabashedly that you want to be with them in every sense of the word. What’s the worst that could happen? I’ve always been so courageous and it has sometimes led to heartbreak, but it’s always a learning lesson and it’s always a blessing. I just feel like that rounding out the album with that song felt good to do. I’m getting back to me, and it feels DAMN GOOD.
Every song on the EP resonates with me. It’s powerful and I’m excited to hear more. Are there any upcoming projects that you can talk about?
Yes, there’s more to come! I did a couple of great indie films at the top of this year, one of them called, That’s The Spirit and another that stars Luis Fonsi, another musical inspiration of mine, also being Puerto Rican…that film is called “Answer to My Prayer.” I was also on the TV show S.W.A.T, as a very intriguing character – which can now be streamed on Paramount Plus anytime. I was blessed to voice a role on the Netflix animated series Captain Fall. It’s so hilarious, the irreverent humor can be quite explosive at times, and coming from the creators of The Norsement I am insanely humbled to have been a part of it. Check it out. I would also be doing everyone a disadvantage if I didn’t announce my first show of the new year for Breaking Sound LA, I am SO excited. It’s January 5 and will be at Adults Only…I’ll give you the link and everything to add to this for everyone to experience the moment.
Tickets to Breaking Sound LA Show Jan 5, 2024: https://www.tixr.com/groups/breakingsoundla/events/breaking-sound-la-at-adults-only-01-05-85936
The band I have feels like familia, and are SO freakin talented…I really can’t wait to show them off and showcase what we’ve been working on and rehearsing so hard for. I will be playing all of my original songs.
I’m also working on a salsa album right now with my producing and writing partner Sly Wes.
Can’t wait to see and hear more of your projects! Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me.
Un placer mamita, I am sooooo so so so grateful and blessed to do this with you – it was a long time coming. Thank you for sharing a bit of my life with the world.
Connect online with Vivian Marie Lamolli:
