Meet Victoria (Viki) Venegas-Rizk | Musician & Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Victoria (Viki) Venegas-Rizk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Victoria (Viki), let’s talk legacy – what do you want yours to be?
As I’ve matured and continue to gain more wisdom in life, I’ve come to realize that I want my legacy to be encouraging the world with Faith, Hope, and Love through the drums, my music… and even in the way I live my daily life. I believe that everyone has a uniquely given Purpose. Therefore, I simply want people to remember me by my work ethic, mastering my God given gifts to humbly help others find their own purpose in life. If it’s one person or 7 billion lives I get to reach, I want them to know that they can achieve the true desires of their heart by having a smart work ethic mastering their gift while not losing Faith, Hope and most of all Love. Love. Love.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What sets me apart from most people is that I want to do everything. Not literally, but more so as becoming more than just a drummer. I aspire to be a musician (multi-instrumentalist), artist, producer, entrepreneur, personal trainer (mainly for musicians) and whatever else comes my way that I want to do in life. What I am most excited for at the moment is getting my health and fitness up to the point where I can help others become fit, mentally and physically. My goal is to help musicians mainly, because going to a music college (and even till this day) made me realize not a lot of musicians live a healthy lifestyle. I had gotten stuck into that lifestyle, but now I have a vision to start a Personal Training business to help musicians become the best versions of themselves. What I am most proud of is that when I was at Berklee, I always spoke into existence saying that one day I will perform at least one show playing Kompa in my moms home country, Haiti. Year of 2020 It became a reality… a feeling I will never forget. Getting to where I am at today definitely was not easy, and I’m happy it wasn’t. My whole life I grew up playing sports and didn’t really start playing drums till I was a teenager because my uncle needed a drummer at his church. Going to Berklee College of Music where almost everyone has had lessons as a little kid made me very insecure and I never felt like a real drummer. I felt like I had years to catch up to everyone around me which made me doubt myself almost every single day when I would go to the practice rooms. But hearing so many killing drummers in the practice rooms everyday motivated me like crazy to put in so many hours practicing to become great. Along the way I learned that sports definitely gave me a strong mindset to practice the drums for long hours. People used to call me crazy for how many hours I put in at Berklee even with the crazy schedule of rehearsals, gigs and classes in between. It was tiring but I still managed to do it cause I am a competitive person at heart mostly when it’s just me vs me. I would say though, the biggest lesson I learned was to work SMARTER, not harder. I remember working so hard everyday and I got really good fast. I was getting better than some of my peers that would teach me during my first year, but I know for a fact that If I worked smarter I would’ve been less tired and my practice routine would’ve been more effective. The main thing I want people to know about my story is that no matter where you start in life, if you simply just put in the consistent work at whatever you want, it’s guaranteed you will continue to get better/achieve your goals. The things I used to speak into existence have already happened or are currently happening at the moment. Sometimes it feels surreal but then I have to remember that I honestly never gave up, so they were bound to become a reality sooner or later.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
A fun place that I love going to at night is bar with a clubby setting called Barsecco in Brickell City. You can drink, smoke hookah, vibe and talk outside, but when you go inside it’s more of a club vibe where you can dance to reggeaton. In that same area there is also a rooftop bar called Rosa Sky with an amazing view to take cute picture while drinking and vibing to music. For a chill night, I always love going to Lagniappe. It’s a chill outdoor/indoor cozy vibe with live music and a big selection of wine to choose from. It’s the perfect place to go with a group of friends if you want to have a chill night out with a cool atmosphere.
Other places to go check out during the day are Key Biscayne if you want to enjoy nice water. Bayside if you want to take a boat ride or go shopping outdoor with nice scenery. Wynwood if you want to see cool art and eat at food joints with lots of bars in the same strip. Now everyones favorite topic, fooood! One of my favorite places to go to is Puerto Rican restaurant called “Mofongos” on Calle Ocho which is also a great street to walk and see the Cuban culture. Another restaurant that I grew up going to is an iconic cuban restaurant called “Versailles”. Last but not least, I am going to give a shoutout to my cousins who just opened up their own french bakery in North River Miami called “Ficelle”. If you want amazing hand made bread, sandwiches, desserts and coffee with a nice river view.. that’s the place to be!!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Wow. This is tough. So many people had major impacts in each detail throughout my life. First, God. Thank you Jesus for everything!
Second, my beautiful mother who has done nothing but supported me during my lowest and darkest times, as well as the best times of my life.
My tia Raquenel who also has been a major encouragement guiding me in my faith when needed most.
Gabriel Gonzalez, my big brother! If it weren’t for him I probably would not have had gone to Berklee College of Music to become a drummer. Still crazy to me till this day.
James Murphy, my private instructor at Berklee who told me to stay in school when I wanted to drop out. He was the very first person that inspired me to practice a lot because I was so determined to get to his level as fast as possible haha!
There are sooo many more people I can keep naming but currently as I’m living in Miami, I want to shoutout Jeffrey Medelus. He’s a Haitian/American drummer based in Fort Lauderdale that is constantly giving me so much knowledge and advice as a drummer. He’s inspired me to play Kompa (or any music genre) with my own feel and sound which has made me grown a lot as a musician.

Instagram: victoriavrizk