VERA – Skinbag: Irish alt-rock band VERA is back with an impressive new single, ‘Skinbag.’ VERA was born in the recording studio when Sarah’s producer, Declan Legge, enlisted Darragh, Dave, and Matt as session players for her solo work. They were all already overworked and juggling too many projects but were drawn in by Sarah’s songwriting. During these sessions they all became slightly obsessed with each other (as musicians and people) and worked through to the middle of the night every night writing together, playing together, and becoming mates. By the end of these sessions, VERA, the band, had been formed.
Having formed in the studio, recording has remained and incredibly important part of the process, bringing out a dopamine-addicted silliness in all of them as they collaborate and obsess over every sound on every song. As individuals, they come from a range of musical backgrounds and areas of interest; covering R&B and musical theatre, metal and ultra-pop, riot girl and alternative rock. They all feel liberated within this group to explore and incorporate all of this into their songwriting process in the studio. They are motivated by each other’s strengths and musical flair, and it feels like each of their strongest work so far has been in VERA.
They spent a year, on and off, recording all of the material they had, perfecting the sounds and vibes that they felt most stimulated by and which represented how they are as people. They then moved on to developing their live show, armed with around 15 songs.
Playing live and rehearsing regularly has also triggered an explosion of writing for the band. They often discover 2 or 3 songs in a single session which they experience as a genuinely joyful process – regularly writing together feels like the final piece of glue for VERA (both as human beings and as a group).
They finally feel like they’ve found their groove with writing as a group and it feels great. All of their favourite songs have come from these sessions… and the best bit is they’re all still to be released! (This will remain true no matter when you’re reading this, their favourite song is ALWAYS the song they just finished writing 5 mins ago, they’re very excitable).
In September 2024, they played their first headline show and it just cemented the feeling of how these four musicians have found their way into the best band any of them have ever been in.
| The next stage is to bring this “punch-drunk romanticism” (HOTPRESS) to as many live audiences as possible. They created this band because of the immediate chemistry they all felt as soon as they played together, even for the first time, and it feels like the best way to share this is live. They are looking forward to supporting the artists that they look up to, playing the stages they love as punters, and continuing to chase the next dopamine hit from writing and playing music together. |
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