Local singer-songwriter and actor Vig Norris, who records and performs as Vigatron, says he was drawn to art and music when he was just a child.
“It’s always been in me,” he says one evening from the back patio of the B-Side, the Cleveland Heights club where he’s performed on numerous occasions. “I remember when I was 4 years old being in the living room dancing to the Jacksons’ records. As I got older, I wanted to emulate Michael Jackson, and then, Purple Rain came out, and I was all about emulating Prince.”
Dressed causally in black pants and T-shirt emblazoned with the comic book character the Hulk, Vigatron is actually a theatrical performer, and Norris often dons wigs and outrageous outfits for his music videos. He’s been an active part of Cleveland’s hip-hop scene for more than 20 years now.
Hollow Apologies, Vigatron’s latest effort, comes off as a terrific mix of funk, rock, soul and hip-hop, and Vigatron plays a release party at 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 26, at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights. Locals Marcus Smith, Crazy8thegreat, J. Smith and Honasty Blade share the bill.
Norris cut the record with long-time collaborator and friend, Burner, who’s produced various songs for him over the years. He met Burner in 2001, and they worked together for a short time as part of a hip-hop group. As Norris contemplated his next release, he realized working with Burner made the most sense since he already had some beats he could use.
“It was 2025; I had just moved,” Norris says. “I hadn’t put anything out in a while. I had maybe nine beats from him. I said, ‘I’m just making a whole project from your beats.’ It evolved into something way better than that. I built another ten around what we had. In this particular scenario, Burner produced it all and recorded it and mixed in his studio, which is essentially his man cave in his basement.”
Norris and Burner don’t necessarily share the same musical sensibilities, but Hollow Apologies sounds cohesive nonetheless.
“I’m a Prince guy. [Burner] is not as much so,” says Norris. “Most of my inspiration comes from Prince and Michael Jackson and standup. I don’t get a whole lot of inspiration from hip-hop. When I think of things, I’m thinking of the perspective of a rock star.”
While Norris has cut concept albums in the past, the songs on this album do not follow a theme other than the free-wheeling approach.
“It became a concept, but it didn’t start off as a concept,” Norris says. “In me working on it, I let the things naturally progress to where I thought it should go. The reason why it’s called Hollow Apologies is because people expect certain things out of me and might think it’s not hip-hop enough. I’m going to do whatever I end up doing, and it’s ‘hollow apologies.’ This is me saying, ‘I’m sorry you feel that way.’ It’s a free album of me saying I’m not going to worry about it and make what I want to make.”
While recording, they employed what Norris describes as the “Wack Burner Beat Hour.”
“[Burner] would play a bunch of things for me, and I would pick things from that,” says Norris. “Every idea I came to him with, he was on board, even when I was singing. I was nervous coming to the studio. He’s on board with all that. This is the freest I’ve been. I wrote everything last year and up until the first couple of months this year.”
Norris promises the live show will be “fun and funky.”
“In my mind, it’s all party,” he says. “This project feels more upbeat, which wasn’t upbeat. This will the most fun thing I’ve done. There will be some funny parts in it. Burner will be there as a backup. I will do the songs through my machine like I usually do. Working with a band might be cool, but I’m a stickler, and I want my show version to sound exactly like the recorded version.”
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