Veradun Eleena (The Veradun & Eleena, Nine Day Queen)

     My buddy Veradun Eleena just put out an incredible  solo record under the name "The Veradun & Eleena). The album is incredible and honestly a gem if you are looking for some amazing new music. He was awesome enough to do a short interview about his release and some of his musical background! Also be sure to check out his band "Nine Day Queen" as well!

     Patrick Houtz (PH)---So what influenced you to really start playing music? Any particular memories or artist?

     Veradun Eleena (VE)---I got involved in music through my cousin Brian. He knew I wrote poetry, and he decided he was going to create a metal band one day. Asked me to sing (which I never had) and he assured me that it was okay, because it was Metal and people didn't care how you sound. So, I took my concept of poetry, and turned it into vocals. It was horrible.

     (PH)---That is awesome.

     (PH)---Did you just sing and write first? When did you decide to pick up playing other instruments?

     (VE)---Relatively recently, perhaps the last few years I started playing guitar. The Veradun & Eleena project was something written out of desperation, really. My band has been on a perpetual hiatus, and I decided that if I could find a handful of good chord progressions, I could write my own songs, and go in a different direction than the band.

     (PH)---I can tell you right now the 7 songs you just released are amazing. I seriously am blown away.

     (VE)---I appreciate it. This project almost got scrapped. It started going in a direction I wasn't happy with. However the engineer I was working with, took a co-production role, and then I took him into the project and it became ours. Matt Young (Press Recording) is also lead guitar player for a really good band around here called Tragic Culture. He saved this project for me.

     (PH)---I have found that sometimes desperation is the best factor in a great record.

     (PH)---In my opinion I hear influences from bands such as Ours, Dredg, and even Radiohead. To me all three of those band's are killer. What actual influences did effect you making this record?

     (VE)---Well, Jimmy Gnecco is a huge influence of mine. Honestly, listening to him is what prompted me to write from the place in my heart that I did with this album. With Nine Day Queen, Joseph Penno (guitarist) always found the right chords to piss me off. This album was written by me. A ton of A and E minor.

     (PH)---Even though I can hear the influence of Jimmy Gnecco the project definitely has it's own sound and vibe. The vocals are fantastic.

     (PH)--Who are some of your favorite bands?

     (VE)---Primarily well written vocals is what I always tapped into. My father turned me towards Pearl Jam when I was a young bloak. Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, Kyuss to name a few. I think Mark Lanegan is a very unsung Vocalist. A lot of people don't know him, and he was a Seattle grunge contemporary, and Cobain's favorite musician.

     (PH)---Funny you say that. My favorite song on the album is "Fever". I can hear both Jimmy Gnecco and a Mark Lanegan influence. Lanegan is by far one of my biggest vocal influences.

     (PH)---What is that song about?

     (VE)---Well, being that you and I share a shitty disease. It's about anxiety. And how it sweeps through you. And the misery it causes. It's like a 'fever' or a plague. And that's what I wrote it as. A plague.

     (VE)---Just thinking about the song, vexes me.

     (PH)---That is totally the vibe I got from the song. It's incredible.

     (VE)---Thank you.

     (PH)---That is awesome you have a huge Mark Lanegan and Gnecco influnece
they seriously are two of my favorite song writers and singers

     (VE)---They're amazing. They can tap into words and images that turn songs into photographs.

     (PH)---What are the plans for your project this year?

     (VE)---Well, the only song on Vampiro that was just Matt & I, was The Fever. After finishing the project, he and I immediately said we are going to do a follow up EP later this year.

     (VE)---And then Nine Day Queen has so much stuff written, it's merely a matter of sitting down and figuring out what we want to do, and who's playing what instrument.

     (VE)---So I could see two more recordings coming this year.

     (PH)---Where can everyone not only check out these tracks but buy them as well?

     (VE)---All of Nine Day Queens old material is on our bandmix website. Some really cool tracks like Muddy, Tea with Karl Marx.

     (VE)---Vampiro by Veradun & Eleena is out today, actually. Amazon, Itunes, Google Play, Spotify

     (PH)---What is your personal favorite song on Vampiro?

     (VE)---Either Crazy Love or The Fever. Crazy Love is the first song I ever wrote. And The Fever is the most personal song I have wrote, and I believe it ties the whole album together with it's words and feel.