Vinny Espinola

Vincent Royale Espinola (born March 11, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and bassist known for being a bassist/backing vocalist of pop punk band Screaming Yellow Players and the lead singer/bassist of the electronicore band Sparkle.

Early life
Espinola was born on March 11, 1979 at in, , the son of an African-American father, Darren Espinola (of Garifuna ancestry), and a Polish-American mother, Alessandra Hlawiczka. His father was killed in a car accident when he was 5 years old. Hlawiczka would go on to marry British-born Dave Norman (originally from, ), who adopted Vinny, but he chose to keep his past surname to honor his deceased biological father. Espinola supported his parents by taking up local entertainment jobs, including a internship at (the production company of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood) and being part of a Top 40 cover band at  amusement park in.

Espinola attended and graduated from the. He holds a BFA in Music Theory.

Screaming Yellow Players
While attending Oliver High School, Espinola and his friend Tommy Lionheart noticed a paper on a school bulletin board announcing auditions for a band called the "Screaming Yellow Players". They decided to audition for the group, and successfully joined the band along with a keyboardist, Gabriel Haim. The band would later move to to try and advance their career, where they were discovered in  by, who was able to help sign them to  and 's.

Equipment
Early in his career, Vinny played a 1958 Gibson EB-1 he purchased for $500 at an antique store in. The EB-1 was in poor condition, so Vinny and his stepfather partially rebuilt it and decorated it in a "New Romantic" style (as Vinny was a fan of the bands commonly associated with the movement, such as Duran Duran, the Culture Club, A Flock of Seagulls, and Adam and the Ants). In 2007, Gibson subsidiary began producing the Epiphone Vinny Espinola Signature EB-1. Vinny owns a production model, which he uses on tour with Screaming Yellow Players and Sparkle as a backup for his 1958 EB-1.

Basses

 * Customized Gibson 1958 EB-1
 * Epiphone Vinny Espinola Signature EB-1

Amplifiers

 * Ampeg Bass Amplifiers
 * Ampeg Bass Heads

Effects

 * Electro-Harmonix Big Muff