Hope Vista is a fast-rising singer-songwriter with a unique flare for pop aesthetics that is impossible to resist. Like many artists, her journey to find confidence in what she’s trying to convey through her art was a long and twisted one ripe with heartache, including the death of her father. Today, in a very open and honest guest editorial, Hope tells us about losing her father and how she found motivation to succeed in what most would consider her darkest hour.
If you like what you read and wish to learn more about Hope’s music we highly recommend you visit her official Facebook page. Hope will release her debut EP on November 6 of this year.
There was never been any question in my mind as to what I’ve always wanted my career to be. It’s always been music. Always, and there was never a time when that wasn’t what I wanted to do. It’s interesting though how loss can fuel your passion even more, when you thought that fire couldn’t burn any brighter. One major loss is all it takes, really. That’s all it takes to give you that extra amount of motivation you need to get something done.
The number one person in my life has always been the same; it’s always been my daddy. He was that heroic-like figure to me, who was a hero in my eyes simply because he was my dad. He was the classical jazz guitar-playing veteran music teacher with a love for Banana Republic and a temper that really showed every Sunday during football season when the Giants were losing. Every morning at the crack of dawn, he’d sit on the kitchen floor of his apartment and spread sheet music out from wall to wall, just jumping around and playing whatever felt right. He was a brilliant talent to watch and open your ears too; just a fiery passion for everything music.
Having a parent diagnosed with cancer is one of those things that you don’t expect to ever happen to you. It’s not something you really think about, but you also don’t think you’ll ever experience it, because it’s honestly a pretty morbid thing. When he told me last year about his diagnosis, I pretty much lost my mind. It took that one sentence, “your dad has cancer,” to promise myself that I would succeed in the career path that he inspired me to take. In that singular moment, I dedicated my entire life from there on out to making my dad proud in any way that I could.
We lost him just 7 months after the diagnosis, and that was another one of those singular moments; something that keep re-igniting that pre-existing flame to succeed in the music industry and make him the most proud angel in heaven possible. Every choice I’ve made, especially in regards to my music career, is always based on whether or not I think my dad would approve. I will never in my career do something that I think would’ve caused him to say “I’m disappointed in you.” I owe nearly all of my inspiration and motivation to my dad; I wouldn’t be Hope Vista without him. Technically, based on my birth certificate, I still would be named Hope Vista, but the elements of my career sure as hell wouldn’t be. The fire, pushing him to teach me how to play a Fender Strat in 5th grade, learning how to digest and apply constructive criticism; none of that would exist otherwise.
I will never think that 21 years was enough time; I’ll always think there should have been many more years together after that. But this new era is where I prevail (hence the EP title). It’s where I take everything my father instilled in me and continuously apply it to my entire being, and I think that’s exactly what he would’ve wanted me to do.
