Secondhand Serenade

By Broadside Assistant Style Editor Nicole Ocran

Bay-area native Secondhand Serenade, aka John Vesely, is currently on tour promoting his sophomore album, A Twist in My Story, which was released on Feb. 19.

Under the name Secondhand Serenade, Vesely created a MySpace and began his do-it-yourself career by simply uploading his songs onto his page. His career has rocketed since his debut album, Awake, was released in the summer of 2005.

Instead of performing under his own name like most traditional singer-songwriters, Vesely has set himself apart.

“My project is really about just straightforward writing,” Vesely said. “It’s very honest and literal and wanted to kind of think of a name that would kind of accompany that. When I get to travel around the country and stuff, it’s pretty much like I’m giving the ‘secondhand serenade’ to everyone else.”

Vesely has always had a musical life, learning to play the piano at the age of five from his father and a number of other instruments, including the cello and bass guitar.

“I never ever took it seriously to the point where I actually thought that I had the chance of doing it, you know? You don’t ever expect to be successful,” Vesely said.

The success of Secondhand Serenade’s new album is noted by its number seven position on iTunes top albums list.

The video for “Fall For You” off of the new album premiered in January on MTV’s popular countdown show, TRL.

Previously, MTV featured Secondhand Serenade on their “You Hear It First” segment.

A Twist in My Story features a full band, along with his trademark vocal stylings and acoustic guitar attributed to Awake.

“I kind of get influences from all over the place, and it changes, you know, that’s music,” Vesely said. “Ultimately, it grows from within each and every writer and musician and that happens over time, so who knows what my next album will sound like.”

Vesely recognizes the fact that a lot of the current artists in the music scene sound like him, but believes his fans are what separate him from mainstream bands.

“Honestly, one of the big things that I think sets me apart is not so much my music,” Vesely said. “I write my music and I’m really proud of what I do in that aspect, and I think a lot of difference comes from the live show, and the straightforward interaction with fans. Whether it’s a show in front of 8,000 kids or it’s a show in front of 200 kids, I try and interact with them in the most personal way possible and just really try to be there and be part of their lives as they’re a part of mine.”

Putting himself out there and making a solid connection with fans is the focus of Secondhand Serenade and his music.

Vesely made it clear that playing shows ranks high on his priority list because “that’s what [he’s] doing it all for.”

However, he also noted that “recording this album was one of the best experiences of my life.”

Besides putting out a hit album, Vesely has been focused on the tour and helping write songs for other artists.

Primarily he has been writing for Eric Dill, former singer of pop band, The Click Five, and described Dill’s new sound as “more rock-based and more of a pop version of 30 Seconds to Mars, if you can imagine that.”

Dill’s album will be recorded in March.

Secondhand Serenade’s plans for the future are open as far as writing new music goes.

“What I’m hoping pretty soon is to get together with Andrew [McMahon] from Jack’s Mannequin,” Vesely said. “We were talking about that a little bit, but schedules kind of clashed and we never got to do that but I’m definitely looking to hopefully doing that sometime in the future.”

While Vesely’s current goal is to work with McMahon, he has toured with a number of big name bands and has formed close friendships with them, including Plain White T’s, Hawthorne Heights, Monty Are I, Powerspace and Rookie of the Year.

Later this spring, Secondhand Serenade will continue to tour across the country and will be joined by Yellowcard. After listing The House of Blues in North Carolina and The NorVa in Norfolk as two of his favorite venues to perform,
Vesely made the distinction that “fans are the same anywhere, they’re all amazing.”

More information on Secondhand Serenade can be found at www.myspace.com/secondhandserenade and on his label’s Web site, Glassnote Records, at www.secondhandserenade.com.