There are stark differences between performance and songwriting, though the two go hand-in-hand. One may even act as an extension of the other as artists look to fine-tune their songs or draw even more inspiration from their live shows. For London band the Veils, there truly cannot be one without the other lest a musical musing remain half-formed.
It’s been four years since the Veils were last in San Francisco. That same span of time marks the gap between previous effort Sun Gangs and their forthcoming LP Time Stays, We Go. Though the gap between touring has been a tad smaller, frontman Finn Andrews felt things were incomplete.
“I feel like that to get the thought out, you have to play for other people; for yourself and friends. Having not done it for the last year and a half made me realize how much I depend on being able to make an ungodly racket,” Andrews tells the Appeal.
“I’ve never been able to find anything to completely take its place. Most importantly, I just love the act of it. I miss it like I’d miss writing songs if I wasn’t able to do that again.”
The Veils played their first show in over a year earlier this month and it has made them all the hungrier for it. Time Stays, We Go reflects that snarling determination with single “Dancing With The Tornado,” a whirlwind of arpeggiated guitars and warbling vocals at once tender and strong in their reverberations. Each track is a marker of Andrews navigating an at times overwhelming world.
“Songwriting to me is just a thing; it’s this weird aid to thinking and helps me to not freak out. It’s keeping my anxiety at bay,” Andrews says.
“I write all the time and I feel like you just kind of scrape out the inside of your head into this brain sorbet. It’s this glistening weird little thing; whatever’s rattling around in my head.”
Wednesday’s show at the Independent expands on those thoughts, bringing a catalog of impassioned songs to their ultimate realization. It is that relentless fervor that has turned a lifetime of songwriting into a career that comes as naturally as the thoughts themselves.
“It felt like an accident. We just write little stories and you keep doing it and writing. I never expected it to turn into a career,” Andrews says, his awe almost visceral. “I’m amazed.”
Catch The Veils this Wednesday, April 24 at the Independent. Doors: open at 7:30 PM, the show is at 8. Tickets are $15.00, you can buy them here.
