VEER (band)

VEER
File:Veer cult classic 2022.jpg VEER at Cult Classic in 2022.
Background information
Origin	Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock grunge post-grunge hard rock
Years active	2016 - present
Labels	Magothy Music
Website	veerband.net
Members	Ronald Malfi Jon Malfi Ryan Fowler Christian Mathis

VEER (stylized in all capitals) is an American rock group from Annapolis, Maryland. The band consists of singer and guitarist Ronald Malfi, drummer Jon Malfi, bassist Christian Mathis, and lead guitarist Ryan Fowler.

Formation

VEER was formed in 2016 by brothers Ronald and Jon Malfi. In the early 2000s, Ronald had performed with a moderately successful rock band called Nellie Blide, but after only a couple of years, he abandoned music to pursue a writing career. Jon had been the drummer for the group Public Eye, but had similarly left the music industry after the dissolution of that band. Soon after the formation, lead guitarist Ryan Fowler, who had previously played with Ronald in Nellie Blide, was recruited. Fowler, who had been playing with the Kelly Bell Band, brought on bassist Christian Mathis into the group.

Following their inaugural performance at a Baltimore music festival, VEER's sophomore show was opening for the Detroit-based rock band Sponge. VEER were lauded for their performance, with critics praising their sound and live energy, and they quickly became the go-to opening act for nationals coming through Maryland on the tour circuit. Some of their earliest performances saw VEER sharing the stage with Fuel, Eve to Adam, Puddle of Mudd, 40 Below Summer, Trapt, Jimmie's Chicken Shack, and Buckcherry, among others. Since then, the band has gone on to perform at esteemed Maryland venues, such as the Recher Theatre in Towson, Maryland, and Rams Head Live! in Baltimore.

Apocalyptic, Baby

Prior to the completion of their debut album, VEER released their first single, "Come Clean," to garner radio attention. The song charted in the top ten on independent radio stations both in the U.S. and abroad, hitting the number one spot on Australia's Valley FM 89.5. "Come Clean" would go on to win Best Rock Song by the World Songwriting Awards, an international organization that promotes and recognizes songwriting in various genres throughout 129 countries worldwide. The band's follow-up single, "Douse," took the number one spot on Banks Radio Australia a month after "Come Clean" was released.

Apocalyptic, Baby, the band's debut album, was released internationally on December 1, 2018, on the band's own label, Magothy Music. Upon release, it immediately broke Amazon's top 50 rock albums. The band supported the album with gigs in and around the mid-Atlantic region, while releasing two additional singles from the LP, "Power Drive" and "Breathe." Both songs would go on to reach the number one slots in various indie radio markets, both domestically and internationally, while "Breathe" was giving renewed life on the subsequent Shut Up and Breathe EP, which contact an acoustic version of the song. "Breathe" was subsequently added into rotation on Lou Brutus' hardDrive with Lou Brutus. A video for this song was released during the COVID pandemic, with the band members playing in separate, isolated rooms of their homes. Three more singles were ultimately released from the album, "Lost and Found," "White," and "Make You," for which the band also released a music video.

Apocalyptic, Baby garnered mostly favorable reviews. Shockwave Magazine applauded the album's "pulse pounding guitar riffs and hook-i-licious choruses" while AC Rock Reviews said both the album and the band boasted "hard rock charisma." Rockwired Magazine highlighted the band in one of their Artist of the Month profiles, based on a readers' poll, where they praised the album, calling it a "mean, knock out rock n roll punch." Pete's Rock News and Reviews said, "Apocalyptic, Baby is a well played, well written debut that has moments of beauty, moments of power and plenty of moments of excellence."

Notably, the band opted for an "unproduced" sound on this record, which gives it a raw quality. According to the band members there was a lot of discussion about this while in the studio. In 2019, Ryan Fowler explained to Rockwired Magazine in 2019: "There is a saying in music...a record is never done but eventually you have to let it into the wild. That's how I feel about this record." Ronald explained that the process, while fun, was also a bit grueling and unfamiliar to him, since he'd been away from recording and performing music for some time, while conceding, "The excitement during the recording of the album was continuously buoyed by the energy of the rest of the band."

At the close of 2018, VEER was presented the award for Best Rock Artist at the Maryland Music Awards, and they closed the show by performing "Come Clean" on stage at Rams Head Live!

Soft Machines

In January 2020, while headlining Baltimore Soundstage, the band announced that they were taking a hiatus from live shows to record their sophomore album, tentatively titled Soft Machines. Two months later, the COVID pandemic shut down concert venues and recording studios alike, forcing the band to postpone their work on the album. However, prior to the pandemic, they had finished two tracks, which they released sparingly during the pandemic, and supported each track with a music video.

"Red Tide," engineered and co-produced by Steve Wright (Slipknot, SR-71), was the first release, supported by a somber music video directed by horror filmmaker Kevin Kangas (Fear of Clowns, Terrortory). In an interview with Aphotic Realm, Ronald stated: "We wrote 'Red Tide' in January, performed it once at a show, rushed into the studio in March to cut it, and then the world went to hell."

Nonetheless, the single received favorable reviews. Rock at Night called it a "moody, melodramatic record," with a "melancholic, yet hopeful chorus." I'm Music Magazine said, "Fans will recognize the band's inimitable sound," and praised the song's "dark depth." Eclectic Music Lover compared the song to the likes of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, and praised the song's "raw, impassioned vocals" and the band's overall performance on the track.

In November 2021, the band released their second single off the as-yet unreleased album, titled "Science." Eclectic Music Lover championed this new track, citing the song's "emotional intensity," and Bionic Buzz similarly complimented the single, while praising the accompanying music video's "futuristic" look. Hard Rock Daddy's list of the Top 100 Hard Rock Songs of 2021 had "Science" sitting in the number 26 slot, between Guns n' Roses' "Hard Skool" and Asking Alexandria's "Alone Again." Of "Science," Hard Rock Daddy said the single was "not only VEER's best work to date, it feels like it is in a subgenre unto itself in the context of modern hard rock." Previously, "Breathe" and "Make You" had landed slots on HRD's Top 100, though they were ranked much lower.

Regarding the length of time it was taking the band to finalize their second album, Ronald said:

"We've been steadily working on new music and on a new album. Concert venues may have been temporarily shut down, but our creativity as a band hasn't been stifled. If anything, we've found a pocket of inspiration in all this, and we're eager to share new music with our fans."

In an effort to keep up momentum, VEER partnered with Baltimore-based distillery Old Line Spirits to release VEER Rock'n Roll Vodka in the summer of 2021. Upon release of the vodka, the band held a private concert at the distillery where they performed several songs slated to be on their upcoming album.

References

File:Veer cult classic 2022.jpg

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