Veara

Growing up is getting to Veara. The Georgia pop punk quartet's upcoming album, 'Growing Up Is Killing Me', reflects their maturation into a band that has no qualms with taking confident strides out of the box. Guitarist and lead vocalist Brad Wyrosdick spoke with Killyourstereo.com recently about the new album and their upcoming visit to Australia as part of the Vans Warped Tour.

What was the writing process for 'Growing Up Is Killing Me' like in comparison to your earlier work?

When we wrote 'What We Left Behind' we just sat in our room all day for five or six hours. We'd just sit around all day, writing parts and going over stuff, and it was really long days writing it like that. What was really cool about writing this album is that we pretty much got to record demos right on the spot, and then Brittany got a drum program and we got Pro Tools, so we could actually write out the music and the vocals and everything, so that we could hear what we were writing. When you're in a loud room and you're just going over songs all day, you never really get to sit back and listen to the music that you're creating. Being able to sit back and listen to what we were playing made it a lot easier. We got to try a lot more stuff out and go outside our box more because we could actually hear what we were doing.

Given the title of your upcoming album, would you consider 'Growing Up Is Killing Me' to be a maturation of Veara?

I would say definitely, yes. The first album was really gripping and ripping, I think. We took what we had and just kind of rolled with it. We worked out a formula for writing songs and just did it. With this record, we really tried to do something different, trying to write songs in different keys and stuff, trying different styles and writing. We want to keep it Veara but we didn't want to make the same record twice. We went outside our comfort zones with some guitar solos and syncopation with the drums and everything. We definitely took a lot of time to take what we had, but take it another step further.

How was your music video shoot earlier this week? What sort of aesthetic were you going for?

The music video shoot we did earlier this week was really awesome. We got hooked up with this guy, Brandon Cawood from North Georgia. The video for 'My B-Side Life' was a more goofier side of us. For this video, we wanted to do something a little more serious, since we'd done something previously that had been a little more laid back and fun. We wanted to show another side of us with this video and we got it across pretty well. I can't wait to show everyone. It's a pretty cool concept. It's not overdrawn - it's simple and to the point - but it's got a cool storyline.

What are you most excited about returning to Australia for the Vans Warped Tour?

Just in general, really, coming back to Australia. We played Soundwave a few years ago and it was awesome. It was one of the best experiences we've had. We never really saw ourselves going that far or playing that far away, so when our album came out it was like, "Whoa, we're already playing in Australia." And not only coming back to Australia, but for the Vans Warped Tour, that makes it fifty times cooler, because Australia hasn't had Warped for about ten years.

Soundwave Touring have described the Vans Warped Tour Australia as being a scrappier, DIY event compared to the well-oiled machine of Soundwave Festival. Do you think Veara will be a better fit for this format?

Soundwave seems like it's more metal bands, but Soundwave is always pretty versatile, too. I feel like with Warped Tour and us being a pop punk band and playing alongside The Offspring and New Found Glory and bands like that, we'll fit on this tour better than Soundwave. I feel like we had a great reaction at Soundwave, but I do think we'd fit in better at Warped.

Tell me about the craziest thing the band has ever done.

Honestly, going to Australia was one of the craziest things we've ever done. This might be crazy to some people but not really to us, but we've been to Europe like three times and the first two times, we drove ourselves. We showed up, jumped in a van and drove ourselves around the UK. We drive on the opposite side of the road, too, so we're not used to it, but we caught on really quick. I guess that was pretty crazy, sleeping in our van every night in another country.

Would you ever actually burn a bandmate's house down if they quit?

I wouldn't personally. It's funny, that lyric is something a former member told me. I guess he would, but then he ended up quitting the band. That's the kind of irony of that whole line, really (laughs).

What are your plans for the remainder of 2013?

The remainder of this year, we're about to start a tour with a band called On My Honour. Our album release show is in our hometown with them, and that tour is going to go on into early November. Then obviously we have Australia after that, and then some more US tours right after we get home, so we're pretty excited about that. We actually fly home and then immediately have to get to a show the next day, so that should be pretty interesting after a twenty-something hour flight.

Thanks for your time. Are there any comments you'd like to finish on?

Our new album, 'Growing Up Is Killing Me', will come out on Epitaph on September 24th. We're really excited. It's been a long process getting this album out and we're very excited about it reaching people's ears and we'll see you all at Warped Tour!

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Veara play Warped Tour Australia. Details here.