SPOTLIGHT SERIES | Virgo Rising on their Upcoming EP, Starting Over, and Breaking Their Curse

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Virgo Rising (Photo By Sean Henderson)

Welcome to Spotlight Series, a regular feature shining a light on emerging local music makers in the stellar music community in Manitoba. 

By Zoë Mills 

Behind the University of Manitoba, just along the river, there is a white, crowned castle. A fragment of one, anyway. The sculpture (created by artist Karen Schmidt-Humiski in 1983) is evocative of a child’s clubhouse, though it rises from the field like a ruin. 

Here, Virgo Rising’s Emily Sinclair, Jenna and Lauren Wittmann, and Isaac Tate pose for the camera, firm and unsmiling. Dressed in all black. 

This ominous scene was chosen to announce the band’s forthcoming sophomore EP, Vampyre Year—arriving Friday the 13th of October via House of Wonders Records

“We went through a static period where we weren't making anything and having trouble finishing what we started,” says Emily, the band’s vocalist/guitarist. “We kinda viewed that time as our ‘vampyre year.’ Sleeping like little bats in a cave.” 

Emily, Jenna, and Lauren formed Virgo Rising in 2018. Isaac joined on drums a year later, giving the group a “full band feel” just in time for the production of their first EP, Sixteenth Sapphire (2021).

“[Vampyre Year] is a new sound for us,” says Jenna, the band’s guitarist/violinist.

“I feel like the EP is kind of haunted,” Isaac admits. “It was so hard to do, it was like there was something working against us during our vampyre year. This is us conquering it by putting it out in the world.”  
 

The new EP challenges Sixteenth Sapphire’s light, airy feel with a heavy, gothic effect. Synesthesia-wise, the band agrees that it’s a deep red—romantic and sinister—while the first EP was a soft blue. 

And their debut release came together much faster. 

“It was only easier because we didn’t know what we wanted as much then,” says Lauren, who officially plays bass and keys but juggles a handful of other noise-makers, too. 

The band recorded Vampyre Year twice. 

“There is a whole second version out there,” says Isaac. 

After listening to the first completed version, there was no ignoring the fact that they weren’t satisfied with it. The band had such a clear vision of what they wanted, and it wasn’t going to be easy to achieve. 

“It took us two years,” says Jenna. “And we could have been working on this for two more years.” 

On top of battling the beast of their own creativity, technical difficulties emerged. Early on, the band found that a stand-out track was technically unrecordable. 

“We originally wrote 'Charon' on this Italian plug-in organ I got at the thrift store,” says Lauren. “It’s out of tune, but we didn’t know or care. So, we wrote the song to it. Then every time we’d record it properly, none of the other instruments were in tune with it.”

With the help of producer Adam Fuhr, the band tinkered with the track until a workable tune was reached—all without sacrificing the organ. 

“Emily wrote the drum part on ‘Tristan',” Isaac notes, another testament to their collaboration. “I’m doing exactly what she did on Garage Band on her iPhone. And it’s the best drum part, actually.” 

Other instruments featured in the new release include acoustic guitar (a Virgo Rising first), banjo, trumpet, synth, a crinkled Chips Ahoy bag, and a rotary phone.   

“We wanted a lot of ambient noise,” says Jenna. “We had fun with it.”

“We understand ourselves more,” Emily says. “We trust our intuition now.” 
 

Vampyre Year is moody and pattern-heavy, with an overarching medieval aesthetic. Lauren even channeled their design skills to create the album art and visual branding.

A Virgo Rising song is vivid and complete—inspired by feelings and phenomena that are not uncomplex. Psychopomps, the remains of childhood, and moments when curse and enchantment are indistinguishable.

“I feel like the EP is kind of haunted,” Isaac admits. “It was so hard to do, it was like there was something working against us during our vampyre year. This is us conquering it by putting it out in the world.”  

Emily, Jenna, Isaac, and Lauren agree that the laborious recording process strengthened the band. 

“We understand ourselves more,” Emily says. “We trust our intuition now.” 

Unafraid to put in the work, the group hopes to release a full-length album next. Like the fanged creatures the EP is named for, Virgo Rising has emerged from the caves, the coffins, and the castles that cannot hold them. 

Catch Virgo Rising's EP release show on October 13 at The Good Will Social Club with opening sets from Tinge and Slow Spirit.

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