Flawed By Design

Photographs By Rick Perez

Orange County band Verum opens up about reliving trauma in their songwriting, lifelong memories while on tour, and balancing positivity and negativity in their latest EP, “FEED”.

Orange County, USA

What is the story behind Verum?

Verum started in 2016 during the bands time in high-school. It started as a calling and passion for pushing ourselves in both our emotional and expressive capabilities, we paired it with our love of pushing the boundaries of music. We named it Verum; Latin for truth, and representative for the rawness and honesty that we aim for in our craft.

What have you learned during your journey as a band?

The short answer is: a lot. A whole lot. We’ve spent years together through the all hardest parts of each others lives; and we’ve seen those experiences bend us emotionally, physically, mentally; but above all, artistically. We are a conglomeration of experiences, passionately shifting our memories into a soundtrack that is as real as each one of us.

The most valuable things that we’ve learned through this journey together, according to each one of us individually, is knowledge of sonics (mixing/mastering, both live and in the studio), that we can do whatever we want if we push ourselves hard enough, that acts of kindness in any kind of community benefit everybody, and that learning how to effectively communicate is one of the most valuable skills you can master.

What makes Verum different and unique from other bands?

Verum is different in a few ways, but specifically in our writing process. We have been pushing to take apart the typical structures, meters, timings that centuries of amazing musicians have developed. It’s an incredible feat they’ve accomplished, but sometimes it’s honestly kind of boring. We are not flawless people, calculated individuals, or perfect in any way. We’re messy, ugly, fucked up, and incapable of expressing ourselves perfectly because of the boundaries of language, body, and mind. To tether ourselves to a perfect system would be arrogant, and a contradiction to our imperfections that limit us every day. And those are real beauty. Those are what create internal battles that everyone fights every day for none other than a love for themselves and others. Those are real truths. Those are what make us different.

You just released your EP, "Feed". What is this EP about?

This EP is a personal lesson about the wraith that lives inside each of us. A lot of the EP deals with a sort of self-possession by a negative version of oneself, and a battle to regain control of one’s body and mind. And it comes with resolution.

I got to learn, through writing the lyrics for this EP, that there needs to be balance between negativity and positivity. Without darkness, there cannot be light, and vice-versa. Trying to omit out all the darkness through the constant focus on correcting negativity will render you blind; and trying to stomp out all the light through self-sabotage will only leave you wandering around in darkness. There must be balance; we must accept that we are flawed by design and so is everyone around us. It’s the only way to locate peace of mind through your own actions and the actions of others. Everyone’s trying their best.

How does "Feed" show your growth as a band?

FEED shows our growth both emotionally and sonically. Of all our projects, it took the longest amount of time because we wanted to make sure it was as real as we could make it. It shows our dedication to song writing and to sonics for the listeners. And it shows our loyalty to honesty through the lyrics that strive for emotion and passion before aiming for a catchy melody.

What were some highs and lows of making the EP?

There were a lot of highs from writing this EP. We’ve never been as proud of a project as we are about these songs; they are closer what we were aiming for than we could have dreamed. We learned about each other in ways only life-long friends could rival. We grew emotionally and in our skill level; both playability and writing. We put everything into it. We sacrificed literal blood, sweat, and tears; multiple times for each.

There were plenty of lows too. From literally reliving trauma through the writing process in order to subdue it, to member switches, and to just really losing ourselves at times when we don’t know what to do next. But it was all worth it; lessons well learned.

You are currently on tour promoting "Feed". How has it been? Any fun stories?

Tour has been a blast. We’ve gotten along even better than we could have hoped; only positivity, camaraderie, treating each other with kindness, and keeping things lighthearted on what is the most time we’ve ever spent consecutively beside one another; or really anybody, save for our families.

Honestly I’ve (Darren) never laughed so much in my life. I do think a lot of it stems from our quite literal lack of sanity from lack of sleep and indulging in whatever we can get our hands on, and we’re also so weird that I doubt the shit we’ve laughed the hardest at will even really translate into this article. For example:

“Take this car, and drive it into the salt lake”

“ferrow ewic”

“oh he crazyin his frog”

Just odd. We did tell jokes every night before bed though. My favorite one was “Who didn’t let the bear into the ballet?”

A: Just the people that… we’re in charge of that decision.

Other than touring, what's next for Verum?

Pushing this EP as far as it deserves, and continuing to grow in our craft both in writing and in our live setting.

We’re looking forward to playing live as much as we possibly can; we took a couple months off to double down and on creating this EP and those couple months were bizarre for us primarily as live musicians.

There’s another single single in the works! Plus another larger project in the works as well.