Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Vincent Fondale, 26, Cleveland, Ohio, “The Sound of Giving Up” (an original from his band Recess): Vincent demonstrates a big voice and a passionate style. Carrie Underwood said he has a beautiful voice. Luke Bryan wasn’t quite as excited and voted “no.” Lionel Richie was also very impressed by Vincent’s vocals and provided the tie-breaking vote to send him to the next round of the show.

Here’s more about Vince:

* He’s lead singer for a band called Recess. Remarkably, it’s a band that he and friend Alex Raz formed in 2008, when Vincent was just 7.

* Today, they describe themselves as an “epic and cinematic pop / alt band.” In 2023-24 they took honors as the Best Alternative Band at the Cleveland Music Awards. In late December, they announced they’ve been nominated for that honor again.

* The band released a five-song debut EP “From Dust to Gold” in 2019 and followed that up with a six-song EP called “The Valley in the Fog” in 2022.

* Their latest release is an impressive song called “I Heard You’re Happy,” which dropped in May 2025. Check it out in the video below.

* On Instagram, Vince says he wrote the song at a campground after a breakup. “I saw that she was much happier with someone else. This song is my outlet. I hope that my outlet can be yours too.”

* In an interview with Canvas Rebel, Vince said he grew up in a musical family, meaning singing came naturally to him.

* He adds that Recess formed as a cover band, which allowed them to learn how to perform and write music together. They started releasing music once they felt they’d found their sound.

* Vince says a key moment for him as a musician came when he and his brother went to a concert and saw OneRepublic, The Script and American Authors perform. “It was, hands down, what made me say, ‘I want to do that’,” he told Canvas Rebel.

* Recess competed on Top Golf’s “Who Will Rock You” competition in 2019 and made the semifinals.

Vince (Recess) on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
TikTok (Recess)
Facebook
YouTube