Verity White is a solo-ish act from Darn Sarf. What do I mean by “solo-ish”…? Why don’t we let Verity herself tell you? She’s far more of an expert on herself than I am…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
I’m based in Cheltenham, south west UK. Its a fairly quiet Georgian town, so you have to travel a bit to get to the good music scenes. Having said that there is still a lot of indie talent here!
How did you meet?
I met my producer Alex at a bar about nine years ago now. He convinced me that I was actually good enough to perform professionally so I spent a lot of time in covers bands and theatre shows and after a stint on tour with Pendragon last year as their backing vocalist I realised that now was the time to start releasing music. We’re now married so that went rather well (though I don’t think we should tell him I married him for the free studio time…)
How long have you been playing as a band?
Literally just since last year. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind but you get out what you put in and I’ve certainly been super busy attempting to get people interested in what we’re doing. The new music industry is good for that, you can build an online presence and stuff before you even gig, which means you actually have people at your shows!
What are your influences?
Too many! I listen to a vast variety of music – literally I think every genre is on my playlist – so I take inspiration from all over the place. I tend to think that the main musical influences are 90’s grunge and rock (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Veruca Salt) , some metal and industrial (Tool, Nine inch Nails, SOAD) and then things like classic soul music and electronica too. Also, life is probably my biggest influencer – if you’ve been through something personally you can really convey that emotion in your music.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
It’s like a smorgasbord of all the good bits from the genres I mentioned above, smooshed together with a stuff G and T and a lot of angst, and possibly a unicorn.
It’s funny you ask about uniqueness, as I’ve recently been chatting so some fans about that trying to get an answer (I find it really hard to think in that way about myself!). They’ve fed back that it’s basically that I’m literally just my crazy-assed self – open to anything, over-enthusiastic for literally anything, swear like a sailor and I have a total lack of ego. I think (hope) that’s why people like me. My music is also pretty good.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
There’s a lot of self-worth shite in there. It’s something I’ve always struggled with, and a lot of lust and mental health stuff too… and a smattering of occasional love. I guess they’re the main themes at the moment, things might change!
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Bouncy, fun and loud. I’ve played a few concert window shows and some live lounges so far, but am no stranger to performing so I know it’s going to be awesome! We’re rehearsing for the tour right now, it’s going to be epic!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Come see me on tour and you’ll find out ;)
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
I’m actually ‘just a singer’ on stage so I tend to use my SM58 and my in-ear monitors (which save your ears from the loudness of a rock band too!). My other half plays a PRS guitar and we get in session musicians for the other slots. Gear-wise in the studio we use Logic and work with a great Blackstar amp with a Hughes and Kettner head.
What are your plans for the rest of 2017 / 2018?
Gig lots and release more music! My solo tour kicks off in January, which will be for the album that I’m releasing Nov 10th. After that I’ll be looking for more shows and to hit the festival circuit in the Summer. Also, I’m always working on new music – so there’s bound to be some of that too!
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
OoOooOoh!! Well I’d probably choose to support Royal Blood as they are killing it right now and I love their sound. To support me, well I want to say Demons Run as I actually asked him to support on the tour and he couldn’t do it. He makes kick arse metal.
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