When it comes to crafting melodramatic, cinematic pop music, Le Verita are breaking new ground in the Bay Area. They have captured the jubilation of melancholy pop music and put together another very nice EP that fits snuggly into the Bay music scene. Le Verita paints itself as a synth-heavy pop band but dabs into symphonic pop that is awash with synthesizer and distorted-beyond-recognition guitars. The recently released Iron Ghosts EP showcases the incredible talents of Harrison Russell and Star Quachmake, who translate the bouncing beats of New Order, Stereolab and Tortoise into tempered and strong post-punk, new wave, and maybe even trip-hop influence at times. There is a wealth of influence and talent to be found within Le Verita’s modern sound and listeners and critics will be taking notice very soon. Get to listening to this now.
You can catch Le Verita at SLG Art Boutiki in San Jose on December 10th.
You can purchase the Iron Ghosts EP here.
This week we have both Star and Harrison answering the world famous Kuestionnaire as they make a good point for question #12.
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1. Could you state your name and what you do in the band?
Harrison: My name is Harrison – I sing and play guitars and keyboards.
Star: My name is Star – I play keyboards and on occasion, guitar.
2. How would you describe your sound?
S&H: Art Pop
3. What is your favorite local band?
S&H: At the moment, Worker Bee.
4. Any concerts that blew your mind recently?
S&H: We don’t get the opportunity to go to big concerts too often, so mostly we see other local bands.
5. Any non-musical influences you would like to mention?
S&H: Reflections on the state of society, conversations we have with people. Traveling. Occasionally a good film.
6. If your music was to be the theme of a film/TV show, what would it be?
H: Something by Darren Aronofsky.
S: A documentary film directed by Michel Gondry for National Geographic.
7. What musician/artist would you like to collaborate with for a day?
H: Danger Mouse
S: Sebastien Tellier
8. What is the album you listen to on a cold rainy day?
S&H: Kent’s Hagnesta Hill
9. List four songs you would listen to on a roadtrip?
John Vanderslice: Too Much Time
Mew: The Zookeeper’s Boy
Kent: Den Döda Vinkeln
Dr. Dre: Still D.R.E.
10. Where do you see yourselves in 7 years?
S&H: In a 1984 Volkswagen Vanagon driving to some show.
11. What is the last book you read?
H: Jonathan Kozol’s Shame of a Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America
S: Graham Robb’s Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris
12. Is image a factor in music or is it a waste of time?
S&H: Yes, it is a factor. Even the bands that say they don’t care about their clothes still have album covers, fancy lights at their shows, etc. Musicians always underplay the importance of hair in music, too. Even Mozart wore the big poofy white wig. No band wants their picture taken with a bad haircut. But the point is, people want a show and they want to be entertained. Nobody would pay 50 dollars to see Lady Gaga play in her sweatpants with no lights or backup dancers. Well, maybe some people.
13. Any embarrassing moments on stage you would like to share?
H: Dropping a guitar on stage and having the neck nearly break. Thankfully it was our last song, but the audience let out a collective gasp when it happened. The guitar is fixed now.
14. Any favorite tour locations?
S&H: For some reason we are better received in the East Bay than in San Francisco. We are playing a show in Las Vegas soon, so we’ll see how that goes.
15. Lastly, what is your present state of mind?
S&H: Patient – as much as we would like to be signed and be able to share our music with more people, we know that there are bands that have been doing this for longer than we have and that it’s a tough industry to crack into, especially here in the States. Furthermore, when you’re impatient you tend to force your songwriting and you end up with bad songs that are written for the wrong reason.
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[mp3] le Verita – Zelda from Iron Ghosts EP (2010)
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[mp3] Worker Bee – No Dreams from Tangler (2009)