What are your names?
We are Leigh and Dave, with Daniel a recently joined up third member
What is the bands name?
Our band is called The Verona Snow
How did you come up with the band’s name?
I actually used a name generator. Its always so hard to choose band names that don’t sound like you’re a lounge act. So I popped some parameters into an engine and got a bunch of names back. As they said in the commitments, all great bands have a The at the front. So, The Verona Snow was born.
What is your genre of music?
I would say we are firmly in the Pop bracket, dark pop with a little post punk, but the bones are electronic poppy pop.
Give us a little bio about you as a band.
All three of us were in Echo Arcadia, who are on hiatus for the time being, and have been friends for years now. Dave and I (Leigh) were working on tunes together anyway and we thought “let’s just record some and see what happens”, and we liked what we made. So it was always meant to be an outlet for writing but turned into something more.
What made you go into music?
Many years ago it was the age of Westlife and Boyzone and I just thought, I can do better than that. So the onset of saccharine boy band pop pushed me towards doing it myself. Thanks Bryan Mcfadden.
Who are your influences?
I would say there are little bits of many bands I like, elements of them. The National is an absolute favourite, but also Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, REM. I also had my formative years listening to bands like the prodigy, and I love the deeper bass lines thanks to them. More recently I have rediscovered snow patrol, which would normally get me derided, but their album wildness from 2019 is utterly breath-taking.
Are you signed?
We signed to a smaller label, with a real family feel called Luminol Records, who have released this ep and the previous one, Sonder.
You released you brand new EP ‘Saudade’, tell us more about the EP.
Saudade “is a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for something or someone that one cares for and/or loves. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never be had again. It is the recollection of feelings, experiences, places, or events that once brought excitement, pleasure, and well-being, which now trigger the senses and make one experience the pain of separation from those joyous sensations”
What is the meaning behind the EP?
Like the title of the EP it really is a mixture of things, it ranges from real longing and loss, desire, on to hope for the future for my children. It even has elements of the hopes for Scottish independence…
What was the writing and recording process like?
Writing with Dave is always great, we have always had a tight relationship and friendship. The writing process works in a few different ways: either I will turn up with some basic chords and words and a melody; I’ll have some lyrics but no clue for how I want it to sound and Dave will jam various things for me and I’ll tunelessly try and fit words in until they do; or we will sit and jam and wrote as we go.
Describe each track in two words.
Take me away: roboty angst
Mechanical heart: heartfelt future
Salamander: hopeful sad
Lightning chases you: angry fighting
Who did you work with on the EP?
This was a product of Lockdown, and as such was fully self written, recorded and produced.
Will we see a Music Video for any of the tracks and if so what can we expect?
You can indeed, for take me away there should be a video released by Luminol soon. It’s a glitchy lyric video that may not be for the photosensitive. Mechanical heart will be a full proper music video, with scotland’s beauty taking centre stage.
Will we see any live shows coming up with the album release coming soon and if so where will you be heading?
Daniel joined us recently, and he has come in to be part of the music making, but also to make it possible for us to gig, something we weren’t sure would be possible or wanted. Since Lockdown eased and ep2 finished we finally feel like we have material and desire to gig. It’s a watch this space moment but it’ll be happening.
What else can we expect in the last of 2021 and early 2022?
Early 2022 will see the culmination of Sonder and Saudade, into a full 12/13 track album. This is the end goal.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
Still doing what I’m doing, writing and enjoying making music. I would love to have our music on some darling indie film, but other than that it’s honestly more of the same. I think it’s OK to keep doing what you love if you love what you do.
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
Don’t be a dick
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
Guitar, pedals, vocalzone, ipad with my lyrics on it (old man problems) oh and some plectrums
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
We have Facebook and Instagram and any new friends would always be appreciated, It gets lonely out there x