VISTA Announces New EP “The Ruins”

On October 4, the electronic alt-rock band from Long Island, New York, VISTA, announced the release of their newest release since 2017. “The Ruins” EP will be the first of a three-part EP release that the band is calling “The Trilogy Era.” “The Ruins” EP will be released on October 25. Along with this EP release, VISTA will also be playing a release show at the Amityville Music Hall on the 26 of October. According to the band’s press release, “Diving into the waters of cinematic and active rock experimentation, the 5-track collection (which contains all previously unreleased songs) walks down a dark path leading to the band’s ‘ruins,’ which will evolve into their revival by the end of the trilogy.” Along with the EP release and the show at the Amityville Music Hall, VISTA will also be releasing a documentary on YouTube in early November. This documentary will “give viewers a rather intimate and (unconventional) look at a string of harrowing events that temporarily derailed the band since the release of 2017’s ‘Long Live.’”

Leading up to the EP, VISTA went through a lot. When asked if they ever thought about calling it quits, vocalist Hope Vista responded, “This is a complicated question that’ll be explained more in depth in our upcoming documentary. You’ll learn more about where our heads were at by the end of our last tour this past summer within that footage, but ultimately, the honest answer is ‘yes’ for me. My mental health was deteriorating throughout this past year in VISTA; so many things were continuously going wrong and falling apart; it was just one thing after the other. It was something we kept internal for a long while, but speaking honestly about it has helped us heal quite a bit.” Greg Almedia, guitarist and vocalist for VISTA also commented, “I was thinking about it for sure. I never quite got there, though. It’s kind of hard to describe because I was somewhere between completely thinking that everything was lost, but also seeing the forest for the trees. Things were tough, but there were improvements. There were ways to fix things. It was all not easy, though. It’s hard to not see that or forget it. Our minds were doing a good job of blinding us. But, we made some changes, made a record, and here we are now.”

“The Ruins” EP is going to be one of the most emotional EPs for the group. Vista stated, “‘The Ruins’ is incredibly sad, but it’s also very raw and dark. It gets uncomfortable at points. All of the songs on the EP pack a powerful punch. I still feel quite emotional and somewhat overwhelmed when I go back and listen to it; there’s one track in particular called ‘After Death,’ that always feels like a punch in the throat. It was important to capture the integrity of those emotions, though.” “It’s definitely more personal. The song ‘Novocaine’ particularly gets to me. I don’t know how to describe it or why, but it’s very clearly a reflection of the band and it just makes me sad. The low points we reached this year, I never wanna reach them again,” commented Almeida.

As for all of the upcoming releases for “The Trilogy Era,” Vista said, “I’m looking forward to seeing how our listeners connect with these songs. It’s always exciting to see the reaction, but I really like hearing how people connect to what you’ve created. That’s something that makes me feel whole; I love discovering those personal connections.” Almeida also responded to how what he is looking forward to with the upcoming releases, saying, “I have no idea how people are going to react. I hope it’s positive. There has been a shift in sound but also a shift in how personal and honest we are. Sometimes random things can throw people off or make them fall in love even more. I’m really excited to just keep playing shows, with a ton of new songs.”

VISTA plans on bringing in the new era of the band with touring in early 2020. Vista stated, “We have a lot of work we’re trying to finish up first, like the documentary we’re releasing in November and writing and recording the next EP, ‘The Repair.’ We’ve already worked out some touring plans though for the first quarter of 2020. After we finished the Electric Souls tour, we realized we needed to take a breather from touring for a bit and focus on the primary reason we’re here, which is the music.” According to Almeida, “It’s gonna be better for us right now in the long run to not tour the same way we did before, touring when it makes sense as to relieve some stress off our shoulders. But we don’t wanna stop playing by any means. There is also the little voice in my head saying we have two other EP’s to make.”

The duo also commented on their fans sticking with them throughout everything. Vista commented, “Thank you so much to those who have stuck with us through some incredibly difficult and hazy times. Thank you to those that have pre-saved our record, posted about the release, pre-ordered merch; anything at all. It helps more than you know. Enjoy ‘The Ruins.’” Almeida stated, “Everyone who is a fan of this little band means the world to me. Even if you only like one song. Thank you so much for keeping us going. We aren’t giving up yet! Keep streaming, posting, sharing, pre-saving. It helps so much.”

This new era of VISTA is bound to be a great one. Follow them on social media (Twitter: ThisIsVISTA and Instagram: vistaband) to keep up-to-date on the EP releases and the upcoming documentary.