MEET VERUM - ANXIETY ROCK
Meet the progressive rock band Verum! From Brea, CA, the members of this unique and mind-boggling band have all been playing music from a very young age. Eric, the band's drummer, has been playing since age two, starting with chopsticks for drumsticks, CDs for cymbals, and toilet paper rolls for drums. With all the members meeting in high school, except for their guitarist Mich, who they brought in last April, Verum has blown listeners away with the tightness of their playing and creativeness of their song structure and sound. Let's see what the band has to say about the start of Verum, music releases, and what they have in store for the future!
Photo taken by @goodtimerickstudios on IG
WHAT GENRE OF MUSIC DOES YOUR BAND FALL UNDER? HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE THE MUSIC YOU MAKE?
"At this point in our career, I'd say we fall into the progressive rock genre, and I would describe it exactly as anxiety rock. The music we make is as raw of an expression as we could create about an honest depiction of ourselves and the battles we go through on the day-to-day."
WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME "VERUM"? HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH YOUR BAND NAME?
"Verum is Latin for truth and stands for the message we seek with our music: total honesty about ourselves and our perspectives on life. It came about as we felt our old name did not fit the depth that our music was seeking to go to, and we needed something with some more substance; Verum was a perfect fit for it, and we love it much more."
HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS WHEN CREATING MUSIC?
"It really is different every single time. It starts with any form of inspiration. One of us pulls inspiration from our own personal lives or personal perspectives, and the others pull inspiration from the piece they wrote about it, or pull from their own individual feelings. Every song really does have a different starting point and origin."
Photo taken by @goodtimerickstudios on IG
LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR LATEST RELEASE, "FEED." WHAT WAS YOUR MAIN INSPIRATION BEHIND THIS ALBUM?
"This album really came at random to us. For the music, a lot of inspiration was drawn from a boredom of typical song structure and composure. We wanted something new, exciting, and unreplicatable. We'd had all the music finished for months, but I (Darren) just didn't feel like I had anything to say at the moment, so the lyrics didn't come for some time after. It wasn't until encountering a severe mental breakdown that I was able to process myself and transcribe it into the inner workings and themes of the album."
TO LISTEN TO "FEED" CLICK BELOW!
WHAT SONG ON "FEED" ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? WHAT DOES THIS SONG MEAN TO YOU?
"'Ego' would probably take the crown on this one. It was such a long journey to write it, and it went through a lot of variations. But it came out as one of the most (if not the most) powerful songs on the album. Themes of nihilism, anti-church, and the popularization of self-mutilation and bodily deprivation for acceptance were all topics that we've never delved into as strongly before. To us, it is a song that instills purpose in the vocalization for positive change in a satire way. But then again, the idea that the main character in the song can identify all the evil in the world and denounce it as if he has done no wrong and knows everything is kind of… egotistical, don't you think? Maybe making a positive change in the world requires some ego? But maybe not enough to control the lives of others? Lots of themes of balance in this record."
Photo taken by @goodtimerickstudios on IG
WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND YOUR MOST POPULAR SONG, "SWEETHEART GRIP"?
"'Sweetheart Grip' is about unreciprocated love. It's the story of a soldier going to war to protect someone that he loved but was not loved back. Back in the 20th century, soldiers would have photos of their loved ones inside the grips of their pistols. Hence the term Sweetheart Grip. I (Darren) fell in love with the idea of someone protecting someone that would not do the same. That's real, unconditional love, one that withstood the most powerful test."
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR BAND IN FIVE YEARS?
"Playing stadiums or playing house shows. Either one is okay with us."
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF BEING A MUSICIAN, AS WELL AS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE? HOW HAS PURSUING MUSIC AFFECTED YOUR DAILY LIFE?
"Our favorite part is definitely interacting with our fans and creating new stuff in the jam room. Both experiences are exhilarating and beautiful. Our LEAST favorite part is probably driving so much. Gas is expensive out there. The biggest effect music has had on our daily lives is definitely going to be the fullness of our souls and the emptiness of our wallets."
WHAT IS NEXT FOR VERUM? WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT IN THE NEAR FUTURE?
"Next up for Verum is to keep surfing this wave of truth in music; we have the itch to create something even more honest and unique this upcoming year. But for the time being, we have a single coming out at the end of 2023 we'll be talking about soon."
Photo taken by @goodtimerickstudios on IG
OUTSIDE OF THE STUDIO, WHERE CAN YOU FIND VERUM? WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR HOBBIES OUTSIDE OF MUSIC?
"There's not too much any of us like to do more than music. Darren does love his serving job, but Carson loves listening to his records, Eric teaches young musicians how to shred, and Mitch will still be playing guitar long before and after practice is over."
