Interview: Verity White

Based in the UK, Verity White is an award-winning singer (Best Female Indie Artist : Spiderweb Radio and Best Alt-Rock Song : Akademia Awards) with an exciting and powerful voice, who expresses a vast range of emotion in her lyrics. She takes inspiration from various places – 90s rock bands and grunge to classic soul, industrial and metal through to folk and electronica – all of which can be glimpsed throughout her releases, with the output being brutal and beautiful, emotional rock music. The lyrics focus on the expression of true experiences, and she uses guitars, synths and strings to highlight these emotional memoirs. Her singles are on the playlists of indie radio networks across the world, with regular chart positions and promotion being shared on her active social media channels.

Her debut album, Breaking Out, came out in Winter 2017, and was preceded by two EPs (Parentheses and Stripped Bare, and a double a-side single Too Much / Look Inside.) All of these releases in just over a year has earned Verity the reputation of a prolific songwriter with an ever-evolving musical style. Verity supported Pendragon on their European tour in 2017, and will be taking her new album on a tour of the UK in January 2018. She also has also worked with Pendragon as a backing vocalist since 2016, with Clive Nolan since 2014 (featuring in many stage and concert performances as well as on recordings) and was the featured vocalist on the ITV Robin of Sherwood reboot ‘Knights of the Apocolypse’. Check out I Don’t Care below!

 

We managed to catch up with Verity as she talks about her latest release and more!

So how has your latest album gone so far with fans then?

Actually amazingly well! I was worried when I put it out as its quite diverse, but I think that actually makes it unique. Different people have different favourite tracks coz some people like it a bit more metal, some more electronic, some more melodic rock, so it’s cool. It’s kinda overwhelming actually – the feedback has been super awesome!

Tell us something about the release no one knows?

I really struggled writing the slow track on there ‘Slow Fall’ – I had the bones of the song sitting on my laptop for like 3 weeks and I keep opening it up and was like, no, nope, nah, thats crap, damn it; and moving on to something else. I was surprised when some of the fans came back and said it’s one of their favourites as I just associate it with a struggling songwriter!

If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?

I’d love to work with Nine Inch Nails, I’m a bit obsessed with Trent Reznor’s miraculous songwriting and production, I bet you could learn SO much from him.

How has your latest single been received?

Breaking Out was the title track to the album, and it holds the key to what the album is about. People have been loving the ‘crunchy guitars’ and ‘powerful vocals’ (their words not mine!) So thats been wicked!

Can you tell us about the meaning behind the track?

I can, I wrote it when I was SUPER pissed off! I’d been working with someone on a project who was treating everyone involved like they were worthless, and I was like – you know what, you knob, no – that is not okay. That’s what it’s about.

What tours do you have coming up, and what can you tell us about them?

I’m touring in January 2018, which should be so fun as it’s my first solo tour! This year I was lucky enough to support Pendragon around Europe so that was a great warm up – and gave me a good idea of what did and didn’t work live. The set list will be longer but more well honed and be prepared for a few tricks surprises! I’m planning set dressing at the moment, it’s a minefield trying to think of something exciting that fits with the album and also can fit easily into a Skoda Fabia!

What venue are you most looking forward to playing the most, and why?

Fiddlers Elbow in Camden I think – at the moment its sold the most tickets, so should be nice and rowdy, and its Camden – I love it there so much its such a great home for UK rock music!

What else can we expect from you as we head towards 2018?

I’m planning a lot for 2018, so there’s just one gig left for me this side of the New Year, and I have a LOT up my sleeve moving forwards! Watch this space guys! 🙂