MUSIC
BEYOND THE VEILS The Veils’ lead singer Finn Andrews caught up with Matthew Cattin to talk about the new album Time Stays, We Go, growing as an artist and being a full time Kiwi musician. Serendipitous circumstances dictated why you won’t hear much piano on The Veil’s upcoming record Time Stays, We Go. Although critics may argue it was artistic direction (and I’m sure they will, being antsy critics), it was in fact the result of poor building structure in Finn Andrew’s London abode. “I bought a piano but it fell through my floor and I just started writing on guitar. So there’s not as much piano on this one,” he says with a laugh. It’s been over a decade since Finn’s demo tapes were picked up by a UK record label and The Veils’ journey took flight. Still in college at the time, Finn tells me it was when he dropped out that the fun began. The Veils came to being and they released their critically acclaimed debut The Runaway Found, an album Finn says took a long time for him to be able to enjoy. “They were the first songs I had ever written and because the album took so long to come out, by the time it did, that line-up had disbanded and it was this hugely uphill struggle. It was all built on these songs I’d written when I was 14 or 15 and by then I was 19 and it felt like I couldn’t get far enough away from them. But recently I’ve felt like I can stare at them with a clearer head. It really just reminds me of being at school and being 15. I’m proud of it now – it’s just taken me a while to get there,” he says. Finn says ditching New Zealand to make records in the UK was nothing personal; he’s just happy to live anywhere that allows him to make a living out of his music. I was pleased to hear however that he left a piece of his heart here in Aotearoa. “The places in my head that I still write about are places from there. I think musically we’re still very much anchored there, though I’ve never really been from anywhere. And I kind of continue not being from anywhere so nobody’s ever quite sure where to say we’re from as a band. We’ve got two English people, two New Zealanders and an Italian so we’re kind of geographically confused. But it’s still a really important place to me and it still feels like home.” The album title Time Stays, We Go references the themes of mortality
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Finn explores on the record, spurred by the death of his family’s older generation. With every end however, there is a beginning and Finn has reflected on the experience and crafted 10 beautiful songs; some light, some dark. “You get that kind of feeling of being on a weird conveyor belt and I think that sparked a few of the themes on the record. I think I write so much to relieve anxiety in myself that it often makes sense for me to write about things like time and death and love; the things that generally provide a lot of that anxiety. So it’s a way of working that stuff through.” Despite being a frontman since his teenage years, he says it’s something he is still working on – although I personally think he nailed it a while back. “I’m still learning about a lot of this,” he says. “When I first toured I was so terrified of singing in front of people and I constantly felt like a fraud. As time went on I felt more comfortable and confident with it and it’s a really fascinating thing to do. I still feel like I’m learning about it all the time. It’s an odd thing where you immerse yourself and release yourself at the same time – but I love that side of it.” I was first introduced to The Veils in college so to me, they don’t seem like an old band. But with four LP’s out and over decade together as The Veils, it’s certainly been longer than it seems. “Time rushes on. I remember very clearly making all those records and since I started making records I have done nothing but do that. So I suppose the time has flown even faster for me. I was 17 when I started and I’m 29 now. It’s a long time but it’s not long at all – there’s nothing I would have rather spend 12 years doing.” So when is The Veils bringing the new album back home for a tour? Sometime in the not-too-distant future according to Finn. “It should be sooner rather than later. We were hoping to be there by the end of the year at least but now it looks like it could be a bit sooner so that’s good.” Good indeed Finn! Good indeed!