Origins
The original vision I had for my music was to marry the minimalist goth of The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds with the trip-hop of Portishead. Still a worthy aim I think, but much like my aim in most things I will probably never find that target. I acknowledge that it can be rewarding to limit oneself, but I’ve always been more inclined to let the inspiration take you where it will. The intended direction is almost never where I end up. This can raise a lot of doubts but I try to trust the process. The example I always point to is The Drop. It started with that aggressive bass sound, and I wasn’t sure where it was going but this kind of happy major key feeling wasn’t the intention. It was goth, it wasn’t trip-hop, what was it? I wasn’t sure I should release it but I’m glad I did. It’s one of my favorites now.
So where does the name Vellocinate come from? Back in the late 90s when I was aspiring to DJ at the filthy, filthy QE2 (Albany’s premiere alternative nightclub) I needed a name. I was always interested in psychedelics (although I hadn’t experienced any yet), and at the time I thought a fictional drug would be a nice choice. Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange came to mind, and the drugs they added to the drinks the Korova Milkbar. Vellocet rolled off the tongue, and since it was mentioned next to “synthemesc” I imagined it was a hallucinogen. To hell with the people that said it was speed. Perfect. DJ Vellocet was born.
How much street credit do I lose for the misspelling?
When I needed a name for my music I could see there were already a few bands using “Vellocet” or close alternate spellings. Every appropriate word or phrase I could think of was taken. By the way, I feel like there’s almost no greater harm you can do to yourself than picking a common word for your band name. I love you, Wax, but damn you’re hard to google.
Something more original then. Vellocet + hallucinate = Vellocinate. No one else had it because I made it up. Done deal. Now, can anyone spell it or remember it?
