VISTA is the brainchild of frontwoman Hope Vista, made up of a rock trio that creates its songs with an anthemic, alt-rock aesthetic, as evidenced by its debut EP, VERSUS. The first single, “On The Brink,” uses gang vocals and driving beats to bring up the energy—a throwback to Vista’s beginnings as a power pop punk solo artist. Big, booming drums, heavy bass, synth influences, chant-filled choruses. “Any elements that would be reminiscent of a live show, we wanted in. Vocals with grit and some hopefully powerful anthems. We sat and created the sound from scratch by writing out all of these elements before anything was written for VERSUS,” Vista says. She talks to Myspace about her early days as a musician and the time she had 10 Myspace profiles.

Hometown: East Brunswick, NJ. It’s a really nice central Jersey suburb.

Homebase: Long Island, NY. I just moved; it’s my first time out of state and super, super different than Jersey.

Did you grow up in a musical household?

My dad was a classical jazz guitarist, and a brilliant one at that. He was genuinely the most talented musician I’ve ever met, no bias. His ability to just improvise and lose himself in whatever he was playing was incredible. I wanted to be just like him, so I picked up a guitar when I was seven or eight and realized right away that I wanted to plug in and play rock music instead! It was kind of just a feeling I had.

Do you remember the first song you ever wrote?

I was eight, in 2001, right after 9/11. It was called “Remember,” and it was when I realized how powerful words can be when strung together in the right way. Words could paint an image in your mind.

Who are your biggest musical influences?

Joan Jett was one of my first, and the '90s pop acts have always had a special big place in my heart. Britney has always captivated an audience and knows exactly how to make her crowd go completely crazy. On the opposite end, Linkin Park has been one of those life-changing bands for me. I found them at age 10, listened to Meteora, and immediately recognized their level of innovation. That’s a band that’s never been afraid, or at least never shows that they’re afraid.

Why are you called VISTA?

I was a solo artist for about a decade that ended right before we launched as a band, and I went by Hope Vista—Vista is my real middle name. We wanted something that would be familiar, a name that people would easily recognize and still associate with that past work. It kind of just worked, because the meaning of the word "vista" has been relevant to us as a band, as well.

How does where you live influence your music?

I used to be really involved with the Jersey shore scene back when I lived in Jersey; I definitely give that area credit for my start up initially before I started VISTA and it was just me as a solo artist. The scene out here on Long Island is much different, less punk-oriented, but it’s killer. There’s a good sense of camaraderie out here that I think is a nice breath of fresh air.

Why is your album called VERSUS?

I’d put up these two pictures side by side on Twitter; one of me wearing makeup and one without. I just tweeted “VERSUS” with it. At the time, I was writing VISTA’s record and trying to figure out what the commonality was between all the songs, because I knew there was something but I couldn’t figure out what it was. After I tweeted that, it just hit me; "versus" was the theme. All the songs I’d written had been about one thing versus another. “Mansions” is the idea of a house versus a home, “The Departed” is about grief versus acceptance, “On The Brink” is solo versus band, and “I Hope You Understand” is lie versus truth. I didn’t even realize that I’d done that; it just happened subconsciously while I was writing all the lyrics. So “VERSUS” seemed like the right fit!

Who would you love to collaborate with?

Chrissy Costanza! Two female vocals on a track would be bomb, I think that’d be powerful as hell. I’d really love to write with Sia, too. She’s one of the strongest songwriters in the industry today, her innovation is unreal.

What do you do for fun?

Besides anything music or writing, I love to go Geocaching. It’s a scavenger hunt to find different sized containers filled with random items, I highly recommend looking it up and getting into it if you like adventure. I love going to the beach and playing N64, and I actually really love organizing and cleaning. I just am a big adventurer and a super spontaneous person in general!

If you were a hashtag, what would you be?

#BackstreetGirl

Tell us your favorite Myspace story as a musician.

I actually wasn’t allowed to have a Myspace when I was in middle school or junior high. I made at least 10 profiles and my mom found all of them. She eventually had these really strong parental locks on, and I was devious, I always figured out how to unlock every single one and delete certain data to make sure she didn’t see my new profiles. She always found them though, I don’t even know how. At one point, I actually thought she set up a hidden camera in the room where the computer was so she could catch me unlocking the parentals…but my name on Myspace was “LessThanHOPE.”