VIKA Brings Her True Self to The Stage

Photography by Jaymie Belknap and Brett Kane.

An intriguing new voice is rising from the Seattle music scene and spreading across the country. In theme with our June Monthly Mix, VIKA is a curator of many love-songs and vocals that carry heavy intention. Each ballad moves over the listener with echos of classic rock, and the many nostalgic femme voices that poured their hearts into the music industry. 

VIKA is the solo project of Viktoria Nikolevna Bibicheva originally from Veliky Novgorod, Russia. With stunning vocals that call the ear to greats like Amy Winehouse, Nellie Mckay and Billie Holiday, VIKA brings a nostalgic tone to her modern soul. As a young star still on the rise VIKA puts everything she has into her project, further building an impressive career. 

“To me, VIKA is my most authentic form. I was adopted and moved to the US as a baby. My adoptive parents (sadly) changed my first name to Olivia, but kept Viktoria as a middle name.” emphasized VIKA.

The shorthand, VIKA became a nickname for Viktoria in her senior year of highschool and quickly stuck, aiding in the transition to a more authentic adult self.

“When my music was picking up more and I was understanding who I wanted to be,” VIKA explained, “I never get called Olivia anymore which is nice, because it’s not me.”

VIKA’s true self shines bright in her work. With her heart and soul in every song, recounting lost loves, regrets and moments of beauty, listeners can’t help but get caught up in the smoky emotional daze.

“My relationship with music is its own relationship within itself. Sometimes it’s like an easy love; steady and fruitful. Other times it is hard and takes time, discipline and perseverance to work itself out. But it is always constant and always there.”

With the help of her older brother Caleb, a multi instrumentalist jazz musician, VIKA explored the world of music at a young age.

“Pop and radio hits were all I had previously known,” VIKA explained. “I changed my whole persona after I discovered what music can be.”

Though VIKA taught herself guitar before her ventures into the listening world, this marked a huge shift in her understanding and passion for music. 

“Music was always the core of my life looking back now. As a child I was always around music and musicians. I was always singing and dancing around wherever I was.”

It is clear that VIKA spent many years searching for something she felt truly passionate about. 

 “In elementary school,, I was forced into piano lessons like everyone else, but knew it wasn’t for me,” she explained. VIKA’s dedication to herself shines through in her vulnerable lyrics. Choosing to be self aware in a world where often people push into boxes for their own gain or comfort is a complicated but rewarding path. Writing songs on her own with a guitar or ukulele, music never left VIKA’s mind and her talent continued to evolve. 

Despite her natural talent, VIKA felt insecurity around her intention behind her music.

“[Music] took a lot of time for me. It was a couple years of growth and development before I wanted to get out there with music. I never thought it could be more than a hobby for me.”

At fifteen, VIKA received two guitar lessons as a gift from her Mom. Her instructor recognized her powerful voice right off the bat and insisted she perform. 

“It definitely took a big push from my mom to really get out there and actually perform,” VIKA explained. 

It just so happened that her instructor ran a local organization called “Rock Club” with a young artist event the next week. Her instructor immediately made room on the lineup for VIKA to perform with him accompanying on keys. 

“I weirdly knew this was something I shouldn’t pass up, so I accepted,” VIKA recalled. 

This gut feeling proved to help VIKA through an essential and terrifying moment in her career. It seems the first step is often the hardest one to make. 

“There were probably 40-50 people in the room, I was so scared. I looked up into the crowd in the middle of a song, and a wave of ease came through me. I was safe and I had control. I was in control of everyone. I could feel their emotions too. It was a magical feeling, and I never wanted to lose it.”

A few weeks later, VIKA joined a band in the organization called “Violet Ice” and performed all across town playing covers. 

“A year later I was avidly writing music and poetry, knowing myself more and more.”

 At 16 years old, VIKA wrote “70’s Haze” one of her most popular songs to date, which she first performed in a battle of the bands competition. Her group performed the song to satisfy the judges desire for an original song and won first place. This included a single at Kaotic Studios in Spokane, Washington. 

This Scott Pilgrim style adventure allowed VIKA to put her first hit on Spotify and the algorithm quickly found her fans. 

“I was starry eyed and inspired,” VIKA reminisced. “I had no idea all of this would set me up for a successful music career.”

These days, performing is one of VIKA’s favorite elements of being a musician. 

“It is my dream to travel and play shows for a living,” VIKA revealed, fantasizing about iconic venues like Denver’s own Red Rocks and The Gorge Amphitheater. 

Playing gigs with her band all around Seattle, VIKA is living an exciting life full of sound and passion. Her moody blues tug at listeners heartstrings, reminiscent of Lana Del Ray the brooding female vocals leave a distinct feeling after every listen. 

“A lot of my music comes from a sentimental place of longing, desire and heartache. The music for me is an escape, a safe place to be real, authentic and raw with myself ” VIKA emphasized.

“I want my fans and those who listen to feel those deep important feelings we often push away. I want them to feel loved, alive and real too. To me, that’s all music ever was and ever should be.”

It goes without saying that fans let VIKA’s music guide them through these deep important feelings. Easily identified as the love child of  Shannon & The Clams and Angel Olson, VIKA’s inspirations can be heard in her weighty voice. 

 “Shannon is so vulnerable with her lyricism. I take a lot of inspiration from her,” VIKA said. 

Now following her dream, VIKA encourages artists to “be authentic, be kind, and be true. There is so much hate in this world, let the music be the love. Let you be the love! We are all born to stand out in our own ways.”

Her story is an inspiring journey and proof that even if you are hesitant to share your voice, you probably should.