INTERVIEW for Veritas"

 

1. 1.What inspired Greg Wenk to start Veritas in 2012, and why did he choose the name “Veritas”?

2.  I decided to put a new band together after my last one had disbanded. I had been writing songs for a few years and was ready to start recording again. I was searching for a new name and liked the way Veritas sounded and its meaning, truth. 

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2. 2.How did the band decide on the “Awen” symbol for their logo, and what does it represent?

3.  I also found the awen symbol while searching for names. It means creativity. We decided to combine the two for our logo. The added bonus is we were able to trademark the logo since it was a unique combination. 

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3. 3.Can you describe the process of finding the original band members and how you built the lineup? 

4. The first member I found was our original drummer Adam Hartley. He and I had the same vision for the type of music we wanted to play. We started looking for a singer and bassist to complete the group. It took several years to get the right members to complete the group. First one we found was Geno on bass. He had similar tastes in music, is a great bass player and we got along. After searching for the right singer for quite some time, Geno suggested contacting Denny. He had worked with him in the past and is a fantastic vocalist and lyric writer. Around the same time, Adam decided to stepdown for personal reasons. Denny suggested contacting Mark Zonder to see if he would be interested in recording the drums. Luckily he was and we began recording our EP 

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4. 4.How did working remotely with Denny Anthony influence the creative process of your early songs? 

5. It’s the formula we’ve used on the EP and both full cds released so far. We start with the guitar part/melody. I send it to Mark for drums. When the tracks come back I re-record and multitrack the guitars. Geno then adds bass and the files are sent to Denny for vocals. 

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6. 5.What led to the replacement of the original drummer Adam Hartley with Mark Zonder, and how did that affect the band’s sound? 

7. Adam left for personal reasons so we needed to find a replacement. Mark has added his signature style to the songs and gave it a more progressive feel. He plays what the song needs and doesn’t play to show off. 

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6. 6.How did your first EP gain attention on radio stations like Rock Rage Radio and Mercury Radio, and how did fans respond? We sent out some demos to try and get interest in the band. We were kind of caught off guard by the quick response. The EP was still being mixed and mastered. The response was incredible. We had a lot of people wanting to know how/where and when they could get it. 

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7. 7.Your music has been compared to early Queensryche, Fates Warning, and Dream Theater — how do you feel about these comparisons? 

8. It’s very flattering to be compared to them. They are definitely some of our influences. Luckily we’ve gotten past being compared to other groups with the last releases.  

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8. 8.Can you share the journey of releasing your first full-length CD in 2020 and the experience of working with international mixing and mastering engineers? 

9. Threads of Fatality was mixed by Daryl Bolicek and Wild Horse Studio in Minnesota and mastered by Thomas Juth in Sweden. We found Thomas online and he agreed to master the cd. While the cd was being mastered, we were looking for a better way to get the music available worldwide. At this point I was still selling and mailing all the EP’s myself. After much searching we signed a deal with Amplified Distribution. They were able to get the new cd in stores and shipped worldwide. 

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9. 9.What was the concept or inspiration behind your 2023 album “Silent Script”? 

10. We continue to write music that we like without following a certain formula or trying to please others. We also try and improve in songwriting and production to make each release better than the last. 

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10. 19.How do you envision the future of Veritas, both in terms of music and global reach?

11.  We are working on completing our third full cd and are closer to being able to play live. That is something we have always envisioned since the beginning. We continue to improve and learn with each new release. We try to find ways to further the reach of the music through partnerships with different and bigger companies with more connections and experience. 

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