It’s a busy year for Vienna Vienna.
The California native released his second EP Entertain Me in January, is currently on tour with Daisy Grenade, and dropped a new single a few weeks ago.
Vienna Vienna, whose real name is James Barre but goes by J, spoke to Ferndale Radio after his set at the El Club in Southwest Detroit last month. Less than 24 hours earlier, J dropped the visualizer for his latest song “Grief Is For The Living.”
The track gives 2000s emo anthem vibes, which is certainly a departure from the tracks on Entertain Me. “Grief Is For The Living” is actually material that J worked on prior to Entertain Me.
Listen: Vienna Vienna talks new music, Pete Wentz and more
“I think I use art to process things and I don’t always process them in order,” Barre shared. “Things that I was sort of diving into in [2024 EP] Wonderland, I followed up by diving into a lot of the things that I’m putting out right now, actually. And then, I spent some time digging into Entertain Me and I thought it made more sense to have it come after Wonderland. So, a lot of what’s coming out now is actually, time-wise, somewhere in between.”
“It’s nice to know that there’s somebody with experience who believes in the project.” – Vienna Vienna on Pete Wentz
J also debuted a new look just a few days prior to releasing “Grief Is For The Living.” Gone were the long blonde strands that Vienna Vienna fans were accustomed to seeing for years.
“It just felt like time. I had long blonde hair for like five years and I just wanted a fresh start,” explained J. “I wanted to try something different. And I think it’s also representative of…the darker hair and the shorter, messier thing, I think is also representative of the parts of me that I’m exploring and the things that I’ve been trying to uncover with the music that I wrote then. So, I’m just trying to be true to that.”
Barre signed with Pete Wentz’s DCD2 Records in 2024 and has learned a lot from the pop-punk legend.
“It’s nice to know that there’s somebody with experience who believes in the project,” J said. “I think it’s really affirming, and also it’s great to know that if there’s something about being in music that is confusing or I haven’t made sense of it yet, there’s somebody I can call or text that has all the experience, you know?
“I think it just helps to have somebody who can help you get a feel for things because some of it’s all pretty new, and I get overwhelmed easily — but it’s nice to know that in the things that are the more confusing…I could always hit him up.”
Listen to the entire interview using the media player above.
