Vivra Verra – Medic by Day, Producer by Night

A medical degree and a music career might sound difficult to balance but even before Corona struck, second-year medic, Jad Traboulssi had both spinning at once.

“Sometimes I just don’t feel going out on a Friday night, so when eight o’clock comes around I sit down and start producing.”

We have more opportunity than ever to pick up the hobbies we previously skipped in favour of a night out at Dover Castle. The pandemic we’re struggling through leaves time to find perspective and look back on the music being produced by students at King’s.

Vivra Verra is the alter-ego behind Mobius, a new lo-fi house EP. When I asked whether Jad saw himself as a musician now he had music released on a label, he responded saying: “I don’t think so, Vivra is different to me. He’s the artist. I just see my self as a guy with a laptop.”

It obviously takes time to get to the stage where what you’re putting up on SoundCloud is good enough to get noticed and put out for the world to see. Jad started producing at twelve years old and says he has only found his niche in the last year.

Inspired by producers like DJ Boring and Ross from Friends, the Mobius EP draws on a raw crunchy production quality that reaches back to the sounds of the 80s. The meditative mood of the project reflects the heady geometry of the album art and the title track. To me, it was a big deal to be able to find my friend’s music on Spotify and Apple music at all, let alone sit down and genuinely enjoy listening to it.

Putting yourself out there and sharing what you have made with the world takes courage. Jad says he has to ask himself what Vivra Verra would do when he is promoting his work. “When you think too much about what people of think of you that’s when you have doubts, so it’s useful to think that Vivra Verra is this other thing for people to focus on”

“I don’t care about getting big, if the music is good people will come. I just hope that I can continue producing and grow my following while I finish studying.” In the competitive bubble of London University, it’s easy to become over-focused on the career rat race. Vivra Verra is a reminder to pursue things because we love them not just to fill out a CV.

Lockdown has meant more time after revising and working out to sit down and produce. This music could easily have been lost in the hustle and bustle of life if our current situation hadn’t given time for focus.

What you do on the weekend (or through confinement) does not have to further your degree. Vivra Verra’s music will continue to be important even when the man behind the music is busy in the operating theatre during the week.

Let’s hope for more from Vivra Verra in the future and that more music emerges from lockdown to help the days pass a little quicker.

Insta: @vxvra_verra