By Jemi Chew
FALMOUTH — Vincent Nocero previously appeared in the pages of the Outlook for his time on the Pendleton County High School football and tennis teams.
Now, he quips, he’s back in the Outlook making his debut as a musician.
On May 1, Nocero released his first album on Spotify featuring five self-produced tracks that encapsulate how he felt during the period he wrote those songs.
“The album name is ‘This Isn’t What You Expected of Me’ and I figured that’s quite literally what I want to get across — you didn’t expect this of me,” Nocero said. “And each one of those songs have a deeper meaning to me.”
The first song on the album, “11/13/2023,” was written when he was at a low point in his life. It was about picking himself back up. One line of the lyrics states, “I want to be the change that little kid needs,” in reference to his album cover photo, which is a picture of him when he was younger.
Two of Nocero’s songs, “One Day I Will Die” and “I Get It,” were rough drafts. Both songs had a lot of emotional value to him, and he believed that the way the sound was captured in the rough drafts more closely reflected the feelings and message he wanted people to hear than in a fully produced version.
But he said that “If I Could,” a song written for his band-mate, Nolan Williams, who was mourning the loss of close friend Brady Delaney, was probably his best produced song and that he had never written, something that “felt so real.”
While all of Nocero’s songs feel real to him, this particular song was written in the moment and was a way for him to talk about it, especially since he and Nolan did not “talk about things like that.”
“I mean that’s a lot for someone,” Nocero said. “And truly I just didn’t know how to be there for him because that’s not something you can, like — you can’t help in that situation, and I guess that’s kind of where the song comes from. Like, if I could, I would, but I can’t.”
Nocero’s nightly routine is to record something, whether it is just a cool beat or a impromptu song.
He says that his songwriting process often starts with a guitar riff that means something to him. Then he will freestyle over the tune, write down the best sentences and build off from there. Finally, he produces the song, which involves recording and sound mixing.
And when he is done, his mom listens to it.
“My mom is a very supportive person. She was very supportive of it,” Nocero said. “I mean, she hears basically every song first.”
He said he has played 15 to 20 gigs, which includes shows at Shenanigans and Shine, The Smoking Pig Tavern and the Lenoxburg General Store.
But his favorite performance was during his senior class night in 2023. It was the biggest crowd he had played for, with around 900 people in the PCHS gym, and he performed “Something in Orange” by Zach Bryan.
“That was just a show where I feel like I just killed it. I felt confident, I felt good, everything just flowed. Standing ovation afterwards so that was awesome” Nocero said. “That was a great feeling.”
He said that the feeling of being able to sing his heart out and people hearing and liking it really spoke to him.
“That night really proved it for me that I can do it,” Nocero said.
He is also the front man of Emma’s Room with bandmates Owen McCormick, Jacob Record and Nolan Williams. They were sitting in Emma’s room, the sister of one of the band members, when they came up with the band name.
“My best songs I’ve ever written are Emma’s Room songs,” Nocero said.
They meet at least once a week to practice and will be playing a show in Alexandria this month. Although the band has not released any songs yet, they are planning to soon and will announce it on their Instagram page.
Nocero will be going into his sophomore year at Northern Kentucky University in the fall and is majoring in electronic media and broadcasting, with a minor in audio production.
He hopes to push another single out within the next two months.
Listeners can find his songs by searching “This Isn’t What You Expected of Me” by “vinnynocero” on Spotify or YouTube. Emma’s Room can be found on Instagram at emmasroom_band.
While Nocero has big dreams, he said he does not make music to get rich — he does it because it is his passion and makes him happy.
“I could have 12 monthly listeners till the day I die, but as long as I just have things out, I mean, hey, that’s perfect for me,” Nocero said. “I’m grateful for whatever.”