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*Interviewed by Lisa Miller at the Rocklahoma Festival, USA May 2010
Biography
Vancouver, Canada’s THE VEER UNION is a young band with the future on their mind. It is that optimism, combined with their drive and work ethic that promises to translate THE VEER UNION’s success to the North American market.
The Veer Union had made their mark in 2009 with the TOP 10 single “Seasons” which was the longest charting rock song for a new artist all year. It became the theme song for the 2009 Stanley Cup winners the Pittsburgh Penguins. “Seasons” was also featured in all Major League Baseball postseason telecast as well as NFL, NASCAR, ESPN, WWE Backlash, NHL and more.
Their second release “Youth of Yesterday” was the highest added song to rock radio first week of it’s release. They had toured for 10 months in the US last year promoting their album and hitting cities across the nation. They had the opportunity to play shows and festivals with the likes of Theory of A Deadman, Staind, Seether, Korn, Hinder, Breaking Benjamin, Framing Hanley, 30 Seconds to Mars, Flyleaf and more.
With “Darker Side of Me” now impacting radio The Veer Union will be back on the road early this spring and will be playing more shows and festivals to come... Look out for a show in a city near you!
How did the band come together?
The band was formed in late 2004 by Crispin Earl and guitarist, Eric Schraeder. Originally from Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, the two longtime friends and neighbors had a common bond: "We had played in bands together and we were both living out of our rehearsal studios in downtown East Vancouver," recalls Crispin. Living for their music was to become the thing that held the UNION together.
Crispin, who was then the vocalist for a popular local band called Everything After, was gaining national attention as a songwriter with credits on Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee's solo CD Tommyland: The Ride. Eric, who had recently relocated back to Vancouver after a stint in Los Angeles playing with the band 40 Foot Echo (Hollywood Records), was working on projects of his own. The two wrote music together for months and found their styles extremely compatible. After this productive time, they determined it was time to find band-mates who shared their mindset.
While multi-instrumentalists Eric and Crispin were recording demos for what was to become their major label debut – AGAINST THE GRAIN - they were introduced to Marc Roots (Roots) and James Fiddler (Fid) through a mutual friend. The bassist and guitarist had been in bands together and had been out on the road for some time. The four became close friends and formed a strong bond before they had even picked up instruments to jam with one another. Neil Beaton, a drummer from Langley, BC entered the fold when the band lost their original drummer. Having spent time on the road with the band as the drum tech, he understood and shared the strong bond between the band members and their drive to succeed.
Where is the band from?
Vancouver Bridge, Columbia
Can you tell us about your first album “Against The Grain” that you have released on Universal/Mowtown Records?
After nearly two years of endless touring across the continent, signed a record deal with Universal/Motown Records and recorded AGAINST THE GRAIN with producer Greg Archilla (Collective Soul, Matchbox 20, Buckcherry) with a couple of tracks produced by Brian Howes (Hinder, Hedley, Daughtry and Rev Theory). Guitar-driven, “Seasons” features a particularly powerful vocal performance from Crispin. “Over Me” delivers the message of regret over an evocative musical landscape where Eric and Fid truly shine. “Seasons, lyrically, is about seizing the day,” says Eric. “It’s a sick live track – really cool to play.”
How long have you guys been on the road for in support of the current album “Against The Grain”?
February 2009 was the beginning of touring for this latest record, but before that we toured our independent record for about 2 to 3 years which was before we signed to Universal.
What are your thoughts on the heat at Rocklahoma?
Well it's not so much the heat as such...which is bad enough, it's the humidity. We are not used to humidity at all.
What is your approach to songwriting?
Every song is different. for the most part we have a chemistry in how songs are done and then we will put our own spin on it. Everything we write about is based on life experiences and is real and something we have gone through.
Can you give us some background into the name “The Veer Union”.
Well the band is very much about things that are real. The Veer Union meaning if there was such a dictionary meaning would be about honesty, something real...that's what the whole band is about.
What bands have you grown up with and who might have shaped what The Veer Union is today?
The bands we grew up listening to, we like to believe those bands had their own thing. Soundgarden became Soundgarden because they went...let's make a band and create music. It's art.... If you have a 1,000 people telling you what to do, then you lose what the artist is all about.
Going from first having an independent release, to then being signed to a major label, how did you handle this?
In this day and age it's very easy to be signed to a major label and feel pressured into going "corporate". A lot of bands feel that pressure, but for us it was like when we make music we want to sit back and go "yeah....that's it, that's what we want to create and if the label doesn't get it, then what's the point of putting it out.
What is in store for the rest of 2010?
We have been writing like crazy. We have a festival after this in El Paso then we are going to be out on tour now for another couple of months. We are hooking up with a band called Framing Hanley who are good friends of ours. Then right after that we will head back into the studio and start recording some stuff. We have a lot of really cool new material that we are really really stoked about.
