SOURCE – Some people spend a lot of time trying to quantify, qualify, and dissect music, but, as the artist, you have a vision for this message and this story. What is that for this album for you?
Evan Anderson Berry (Vocals, Guitars) – I don’t think there’s necessarily a specific message or story we’re attempting to relay with this album, it’s more just my own ruminations and explorations inside my head and my experiences. I mostly just tried to take a third-person perspective on how my brain (over)conceptualizes stuff, and how that affects my well-being and suffering. But I think that those are fundamentals to the human experience that can be appreciated by most people, so hopefully listeners can get something out of it.
SOURCE – Do you think the opportunity to be a part of that DIY scene carves out a unique space for you to have a different connection with your fans? Some of my favorite shows are the smaller, grassroots shows, and it seems like there’s such a strong sense of community there. Do you feel that as an artist?
Evan Anderson Berry (Vocals, Guitars) – Well, since we don’t really have a big, “successful” career to compare it to, the independent path is pretty much all we’ve known haha. But yes, we have made a lot of great connections with fans and fellow musicians, and I have to imagine it can be difficult to hang onto that intimacy if you’re a bigger band working with bigger institutions. That doesn’t stop us from attempting to achieve success – it’d be really nice to actually support ourselves from music – but we do our best appreciate the silver linings of an independent path.
SOURCE – So with the album cycle kind of winding down, looking back on it, how do you think it went in comparison to other releases?
Evan Anderson Berry (Vocals, Guitars) – This has definitely been the most successful release so far. This was the first time we hired a PR company, which I’m sure helped boost everything, but I suppose it is also just the result of slowing gaining more fans over the years. And luckily it seems like most of our fans have been patient with us and have stuck around, so that has been very rewarding and promising.
SOURCE – Considering your music crosses many different spectrums of progressive, rock, and metal genres – how do you know when something is quintessential Veil Of Imagination? Do you think the diversity helps alleviate any chance of stagnation or boredom for yourselves as well as the listeners?
Evan Anderson Berry (Vocals, Guitars) – This may be a bit of a lazy answer, but I guess it’s just a feeling, at the end of the day. We have to sit on the material for a while to really know if it fits on the record or not. It’s honestly hard to know if everything truly glues together until the album is totally complete, so it can be a bit of a gamble. But yes, we all are very guilty of getting bored and wanting to change things up – possibly too often haha. It’s a tricky balance between settling into a sound and trying to shake things up. I suppose as long as enough parts on a record feel like they belong to the same world, you can get away with various tangents, as long as you continue to come back to the core sound.
SOURCE – Does it make things harder to reach that next level of success and popularity?
Evan Anderson Berry (Vocals, Guitars) – It’s hard to say, since we don’t really know what the “higher-ups” are saying about our material behind closed doors. I can’t imagine it’s an easy task to sell 8+ minute songs that often don’t have choruses. However, we’ve gotten more inquiries from some of those establishments following “Veil” than with any previous albums. And considering we feel like this was our most adventurous, experimental effort yet, perhaps that means our experiments are our strong suit, which is encouraging.
SOURCE – In a time where streaming and digital consumption of music is more the norm than owning physical releases, do you believe that great artwork is still crucially important for albums?
Evan Anderson Berry (Vocals, Guitars) – I think it depends on the type of music and its intent, but generally yes. At least, I personally prefer when music has some sort of visual accompaniment. Maybe that doesn’t necessarily have to mean an album cover, but I’m always a fan of world-building, and artwork is a pretty key element in that for me.
SOURCE – Where do you see the state of the traditional metal scene today? Do you believe there is enough interest from the newer and older generations to galvanize the movement with these younger acts, especially considering older artists like Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden are still selling out arenas and large festivals on a worldwide basis?
Evan Anderson Berry (Vocals, Guitars) – I’m honestly not sure, but part of me thinks there is a generational gap. Those bands came from the era where only a tiny fraction of bands could become wildly successful, if they were able to hook up with the gatekeepers of the industry. I sorta like that the new industry seems to be much more spread out, and possibly more democratic given the way music is distributed online. The downside is that it seems much more difficult for musicians to actually make a good living, but I’d rather have 100 bands making a bit of money than 5 bands making a shit load of money. Especially if the music is just as good or better, and more importantly, if the bar is raised in terms of quality. The spectacle of arena shows can be cool, but I’d prefer an industry that leans on small/medium sized shows with more/better bands.
SOURCE – Given the anonymous stature of the band, what would you like to see from heavy metal as we venture into the 2020s?
Evan Anderson Berry (Vocals, Guitars) – Well, given the current epidemic, I just hope the industry can bounce back. I’m very worried about the state of live music in general at the moment. So, for the time being, I’m keeping my hopes pretty modest. But in an ideal world, assuming we overcome this crisis in a strong way, I’d love to see more underground, talented bands get the recognition they deserve. But I think the only way that can feasibly happen is if the audience cares enough about quality to pay for it, and that requires having an ear for it. And considering music is ultimately subjective, maybe that’s not a very coherent argument. Maybe all I can ask is that people at least garner the ethic of paying for music they find to be valuable, and hopefully that will be enough.
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