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, as well as the lead singer/bassist of the electronicore band Sparkle.
Early life[]
Espinola was born on March 11, 1979 at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of an African-American father, Darren Espinola (of Garifuna and Trinidian 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 Rainham, Kent, England), who adopted Vinny, but he chose to keep his past surname to honor his deceased biological father.
Espinola attended Oliver High School and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. He holds a BFA in Music Theory.
Career[]
Christopher Faulkner[]
When he was 15, Espinola joined ska pop group Christopher Faulkner after their previous "lead bassist", Nathan van der Vinne, was fired for insubordination. His impressive bass-playing skills despite his young age earned him the nickname "Baby Vinny". Lionheart's friend Tommy Lionheart was a replacement for Curtis Kinglake from 1998-1999 in the band.
Screaming Yellow Players[]
While attending Oliver High School, Espinola and 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.
Personal life[]
Espinola lives in Murrysville, Pennsylvania with his wife Tanya Espinola. He is the brother-in-law of his bandmate Polaris Browne, as Tanya is Browne's sister. He is a fixture of several Pittsburgh-area flea markets.
Substance abuse[]
At the height of the Players' career, Espinola suffered from drug and alcohol addiction. He stated the first time he did cocaine was at the age of 17, and first smoked weed backstage at a concert in Hobart, Australia in 2000.
On October 4, 2003, Espinola was involved in an incident on Interstate 279 two miles north of downtown Pittsburgh, when his Honda Motocompo scooter, traveling at a speed of 110 mph while Espinola was under the influence of cocaine and alcohol, crashed into an oncoming garbage truck. When paramedics arrived, Espinola had no pulse and was pronounced dead, before a paramedic resuscitated him. In 2004, Espinola entered rehab for depression, anxiety, drug abuse, and excessive consumption of alcohol.
Politics[]
In 2018, Espinola admitted that has been apolitical "for quite some time now", saying "my family was nearly torn apart by my mom's support of Bush, y'know. I don't want to set a bad example for any of my younger relatives by making my family target each other as political strawmen."
Sexuality[]
Espinola came out as bisexual in 2007 in an interview with Q. He stated "I like girls, I like guys. That's all that matters to me."
Equipment[]
Early in his career, Vinny played a 1958 Gibson EB-1 he purchased for $500 at an antique store in Allentown, Pennsylvania. 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 Epiphone 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
- Gibson EB-3
- Gibson SG Standard Bass
Amplifiers[]
- Ampeg Bass Amplifiers
- Ampeg Bass Heads
Effects[]
- Electro-Harmonix Big Muff