Viva Voce was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band from

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, formed by Kevin Robinson and Anita Robinson. Their music drew on several influences including psychedelic rock,

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

and R&B.

History

The Robinsons formed Viva Voce in 1998 in their native Muscle Shoals, Alabama and later relocated to Nashville and then the Portland area in 2003. Their first album, ''Hooray for Now'', was released in 1998. The band formed their own label, Amore!Phonics, and released ''Lovers, Lead the Way!'' in 2003 in conjunction with

Asthmatic Kitty Records Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, coug ...

. The follow-up, ''The Heat Can Melt Your Brain'', was released in 2004 and received positive critical response and heightened exposure for the band. Broadening their fanbase worldwide, Viva Voce toured extensively in Europe after signing with UK indie label

Full Time Hobby Full Time Hobby is an independent record label formed in London in January 2004. Since its inception it has released records by artists such as Dana Gavanski, Timber Timbre, Tunng, Micah P. Hinson, Michael Nau, Katie Von Schleicher and Wh ...

. They toured with

The Shins The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...

and Jimmy Eat World. Their fourth album, ''Get Yr Blood Sucked Out'', was released August 21, 2006 in Europe and September 12, 2006 in the USA. After playing their final show of 2007 on September 6 during

MusicfestNW MusicfestNW (MFNW) was a multi-venue music festival that took place every fall in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon from 2001 to 2018. In 2014 the format of the festival changed to a two-day waterfront music festival. The festival was organized by ...

, Kevin announced that Viva Voce would be working on their new album and would continue touring in 2008. For the 2009 album ''Rose City'', two more band members were hired for touring, Evan Railton and

Corrina Repp Corrina Repp is a vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and actress from Portland, Oregon and now lives in Los Angeles. Her albums ''I Take On Your Days'' (2001) and ''It's Only the Future'' (2004) were released on Hush Records, while ''The Absent and t ...

. Viva Voce's sixth, and final, studio album, ''The Future Will Destroy You'', was released on June 21, 2011 on Vanguard Records. It received positive reviews from numerous music outlets
Paste Magazine
gave the album a 7.2 out of 10. The band split up in 2013 when Kevin and Anita divorced.

Discography

Albums

* ''Hooray for Now'' – (1998, Cadence) * ''Lovers, Lead the Way!'' – (2003, Asthmatic Kitty) * '' The Heat Can Melt Your Brain'' – (2004, Minty Fresh) * '' Get Yr Blood Sucked Out'' – (2006, Barsuk Records) * '' Rose City'' – (2009, Barsuk Records) * ''The Future Will Destroy You'' – (2011, Vanguard Records)

Singles and EPs

* ''Weightless'' (CD) – 2000 * ''Scissors and Blue Series, Vol. 3'' (split w/

Soul-Junk Soul-Junk is an experimental genre-hopping Christian rock and hip hop group from San Diego, California. Background The roots of Soul-Junk began in 1993 when Glen Galloway began experimenting while touring in Europe with his rock band Truman ...

) (CD) – Velvet Blue Music 2002 * ''Live at KEXP'' (CD) – Amore!Phonics, 2004 * ''Alive With Pleasure'' (double 7-inch & 7-inch vinyl) – Full Time Hobby, 2005 * ''Center of the Universe'' (double 7-inch) – Full Time Hobby, 2005 * ''Wrecking Ball'' (7-inch vinyl) - Full Time Hobby, 2005 * ''From the Devil Himself'' (7-inch vinyl) - Full Time Hobby, 2006 * ''Faster than a Dead Horse'' (7-inch vinyl) - Full Time Hobby, 2006 * ''Viva Voce Loves You EP'' - Full Time Hobby, 2007

Compilation album contributions

* "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Jolly Old Saint Nicolas" and "What Child is This" on ''Love, Peace, and Joy'' (CD) - Cadence, 1997 * " Eye in the Sky" (Allan Parsons Project cover) on '' Bridging the Distance'' (CD) - Arena Rock Recording, 2007

References

External links

Barsuk webpage
*
Music Video for "From The Devil Himself" + interview with director Moh Azima
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viva Voce Indie rock musical groups from Oregon Musical groups from Portland, Oregon 1998 establishments in Alabama Barsuk Records artists Asthmatic Kitty artists Vanguard Records artists