Veridia, a young new band out of Nashville, but with ties to Dallas, recently sat down with The Red Ledger’s Catherine Hathway to discuss their new material, how they formed and where the heart of their music lies.

The Red Ledger: Brandon and Deena, how has your hometown influenced your music style and boosted your success in the music industry?

Deena Jakoub (vocals): “For me, the majority of my influence has been from my family because my grandparents are really musical. I started singing with them, bluegrass music, when I was two years old, so they, and Texas in general, that is my main influence.”

Brandon Brown (guitar): “I started playing in bands back when Eisenbergs Skatepark was the only place to play. If I hadn’t been in Plano at the time, music would have looked very different for me. Punk and metal shows at the skatepark, that no longer exists, eventually led me to here.”

The Red Ledger: What is your appeal as a band, and what is the music style that people usually categorize you as?

Jakoub: “Alternative rock with some electronic vibes. I think we are just a really energetic live band.”

Kyle Levy (drums): “The songs range from all out rock songs to more electronic kind of dance-y numbers. I think it’s just really eclectic, really energetic and Deena’s voice is really big, so that pulls it all together no matter what style we are playing behind her.”

The Red Ledger: How did your band come to be? Was it tough to find the right people for Veridia?

Trevor Hinesley (guitar): “We met through mutual friends because I’ve lived in Nashville since 2008, so when Brandon and Deena moved there, I met them through some friends. Then Kyle well he has his own story.”

Levy: “Yeah, well a lot of it was mutual connection. Brandon and Deena have been playing together for a long time because they are both from here. We kinda just hitched a ride along the way and here we are.”

The Red Ledger: What is your audience reception when you play music festivals and concerts?

Brown: “A lot of people sing along. Our songs are very lyric driven so we love it when people sing the words, but if they’ve never heard us before there is a lot of participation. People just clapping and rocking out.”

Levy: “Something I’ve heard a lot is our music, our lyrics are relatable from people who have either seen a show or heard it on the radio.”

The Red Ledger: Do you guys enjoy playing concert venues or music festivals more?

Jakoub: “I think festivals are so fun.”

Hinesley: “It’s a cool vibe.”

Levy: “It’s a different kind of thing. When you play a regular venue it’s kinda one and done, but festivals are usually like a couple days, you get to hang out, make friends and sometimes the next day you get to see those friends again. There’s a community that comes with festivals. A lot of times, with just venues, you don’t get to really see those people again or those bands. A festival is just a whole new world.”

The Red Ledger: The EP Inseparable. What’s the inspiration for that debut?

Jakoub: “We decided to title it something that wasn’t even one of the singles from any of the songs that are on it. Mostly because this is a fresh, new start for all of us doing something new together. Festivals for us, or even just touring in general, making friends and living in a community is primarily why we do this. We love doing that. Inseparable was kinda like a way to say that out loud. It kinda encompasses all the themes in all of the songs that are on the EP. Most of them are about broken relationships and things that we deal with personally. It’s a good way for us to be relatable to our fans.”

The Red Ledger: Is writing music a collaborative effort?

Jakoub: “It’s always really different. One of us might be in a writer’s room with someone we’ve never met before or we will all jam in our basement or two of us will be hanging out at the house and we just want to jam, but we end up writing a song. It all just comes naturally and organically. We take what we can get and hit the studio with it.”

Brown: “We wrote 40 or 50 songs by the time we recorded those five. We wrote in any and every way possible with anyone and everyone who would write with us. It was very collaborative both within the band members and with people outside the band members. We took as many influences as we could and turned them into songs that we liked.”

Jakoub: “Moving to Nashville, that was like a huge thing for us. Dallas definitely isn’t that saturated in music. There’s a lot of music, but there isn’t as many musicians and writers that work together. Being in Nashville and being with a bunch of people who get to do that every single day of their lives is like a new experience and we love it.”

The Red Ledger: Are you happy with the EP? Are your fans happy with the EP?

Jakoub: “Yeah! I think so. We’ve had some decent reviews and I think one of the important things for us is, like Kyle was saying, having a message that is really relatable. I dealt with a lot of self image issues through high school, so I personally have a connection with young kids who deal with that.”

The Red Ledger: What is on the way from Veridia?

Brown: “Music video is next. We actually leave after the festival today, tomorrow we head to Austin where we are going to film our video for “Disconnected”, which is the second song on the EP. That will be the next big thing. We also have some festivals lined up and we are working on booking some tours through the end of the year.”

Jakoub: “We are constantly writing, so you never know when you will get new music from us.”