Nico Vega is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, formed in 2005. The band consists of lead singer Aja Volkman, guitarist Rich Koehler and drummer Dan Epand. Comparisons have been made to The White Stripes

The White Stripes

The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...

 in that they have never had a bass player. The band's popularity soared in 2009 when they performed three songs on Last Call with Carson Daly

Last Call with Carson Daly

Last Call with Carson Daly is an American late night talk show that is broadcast on NBC. The show is hosted by Carson Daly, the half-hour show featuring celebrity interviews, documentary-style coverage of a topic, and musical performances. Last Call airs weeknights at 1:35 a.m. Eastern / 12:35 a.m....

.

Nico Vega released several independent EPs and recorded their own videos to get their music out. Their hard work paid off when they got the attention of famed rock manager Doc McGhee

Doc McGhee

Doc McGhee is an American music manager, best known for working with KISS, Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe. The latter two groups experienced their rise to stardom under his management...

 of McGhee Entertainment. They already had a recording contract with MySpace Records and soon recorded their first full-length album simply titled "Nico Vega." Linda Perry

Linda Perry

Linda Perry is an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer. Once best known as the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, Perry has founded two record labels and has become a major songwriter and producer...

 produced three of the songs on the album while the rest were produced by Tim Edgar. The album was mixed by Tchad Blake

Tchad Blake

Tchad Blake is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician.He has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including State Radio, Apartment 26, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Brazilian Girls, Sheryl Crow, November 2nd, Travis, Marike...

.

The band is known for their dynamic live performances led by singer Aja Volkman. Her vocal style has been compared to that of Karen O

Karen O

Karen Lee Orzolek , better known by her stage name Karen O, is the vocalist for New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs.-Early life:...

, Joan Jett

Joan Jett

Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...

 and Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin

Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...

.

They were very active in 2009 touring with former Bush

Bush (band)

Bush are an alternative rock band formed in London in 1992 shortly after vocalist/guitarist Gavin Rossdale and guitarist Nigel Pulsford met in a London nightclub. Realising they shared a love for such diverse artists as the Pixies, Bob Marley, The Jesus Lizard, MC5, Nirvana, Hüsker Dü, and Big...

 singer Gavin Rossdale

Gavin Rossdale

Gavin McGregor Rossdale is an English musician, known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush as well as an actor. Following Bush's separation in 2002, which lasted for eight years, he was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and later began a solo career. He...

, Semi Precious Weapons

Semi Precious Weapons

Semi Precious Weapons is a rock band from New York City consisting of Justin Tranter on vocals, Stevy Pyne on guitar, Cole Whittle on bass and Dan Crean on drums. Pyne replaced former guitarist, Aaron Lee Tasjan, in November 2008...

, Neon Trees

Neon Trees

Neon Trees is an American alternative rock band from Provo, Utah, with origins in Murrieta, California. The band received nationwide exposure in late 2008 when they opened several North American tour dates for the rock band The Killers. Not long after, the band was signed by Mercury Records and...

, Manic Street Preachers

Manic Street Preachers

Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...

, and Shiny Toy Guns

Shiny Toy Guns

Shiny Toy Guns is an American indie rock band that formed in 2002 in Los Angeles, California. They released their first studio album We Are Pilots in 2006, after recording it two previous times. It featured three singles that peaked inside the top 30 in the Alternative Songs Chart. We Are Pilots...

. In 2010 they toured with Soundtrack of Our Lives, Metric, Sweethead

Sweethead

Sweethead is an American alternative rock group formed in 2008. The group's lineup consists of singer Serrina Sims, guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen , bassist Eddie Nappi and drummer Norm Block .To date, Sweethead have...

, Saint Motel

Saint Motel

Saint Motel is an indie pop band from Los Angeles. They have been described as "garage glam", "hard pop", "indie prog" and more by those including The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times who wrote recently that they have "reanimated power pop"....

, and Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons is an indie rock band based in Las Vegas, Nevada.After winning four back-to-back battles of the bands, the band entered the studio for the first time in 2009. They released two EPs titled Imagine Dragons EP and Hell and Silence EP in 2010, both recorded at Battle Born Studios...

. In 2011 they are set to tour with She Wants Revenge

She Wants Revenge

She Wants Revenge is an American musical duo, based in San Fernando Valley, California. The group's debut album She Wants Revenge was released in early 2006, with three singles to follow...

 and Blondie

Blondie (band)

Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...

.

History

Aja Volkman started writing songs while in high school in Eugene, Oregon

Eugene, Oregon

Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...

. Later she moved to Los Angeles and started performing on her own. She had hoped to eventually form a band. That happened when one night after a show in 2005, Mike Peña

Michael Peña

Michael Anthony Peña is an American film and television actor. He is probably best known for his roles in the films Crash, World Trade Center, Observe and Report, 30 Minutes or Less and Tower Heist...

 approached her about singing with him and Rich Koehler. The band called themselves Nico Vega after Mike's mother. However, in 2007 Mike left the band to pursue acting and enjoy fatherhood. At that point the band began looking for another drummer. Dan Epand's girlfriend, Angie Hill, was a fan of the band and urged him to audition.

Nico Vega recently released their first full-length album on MySpace Records. Tim Edgar, a friend of the band, was the original producer although they had been trying to attract the attention of Linda Perry

Linda Perry

Linda Perry is an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer. Once best known as the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, Perry has founded two record labels and has become a major songwriter and producer...

. Linda eventually responded and produced three songs for the album: So So Fresh, Wooden Dolls and Gravity.

Discography

Nico Vega released several EPs before recently recording their first full-length album for MySpace Records.

EPs

Chooseyourwordspoorly (April 3, 2006) Cocaine Cooked the Brain (August 21, 2007) No Child Left Behind (October 2, 2007) Nico Vega Covers Nico Vega and Rod Stewart (January 3, 2011)

Music videos

The first music video off Nico Vega's studio album was for the song "Burn Burn." It alludes to Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

's Last Supper

Last Supper

The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...

 and was directed by SKINNY (Directing Team)

SKINNY (directing team)

SKINNY is a directing team based in Los Angeles that specializes in music videos. It is composed of David Hache, Marc-Edouard Leon and Dori Oskowitz. SKINNY is known for developing its concepts through the use of creative methods that are deeply rooted in mysticism...

.

Their second music video was for the song "Gravity." It was filmed in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 early in 2010 and was directed by Marcus Dunstan

Marcus Dunstan

Marcus Dunstan is an American screenplay writer and director.-Life and career:Dunstan was born in Macomb, Illinois...

.

Their third music video was for their song "So So Fresh." It was filmed in Los Angeles, and featured several children.

They also have a music video for the song "Beast." Featured in the 2010 movie, "The Collector."

Members

Aja Volkman - Vocals (2005–present)

Rich Koehler - Guitar (2005–present)

Dan Epand - Drums (2007–present)