Artist Spotlight is a segment that we started to introduce our listeners to some deserving up and coming artists/coming bands. They have made an impact on us for all of the right reasons. We think they kick ass and we hope you do too!
VEER is an award winning American rock band from Annapolis, Maryland USA, whose roots are planted firmly in the soil of the mid-atlantic music scene. VEER’s music owes its origin to the post-grunge, alternative hard rock movement of the mid to late 90’s and early 2000’s. Songs like “Come Clean,””Power Drive,” and “Douse” have quickly come to signify their brand of original, hard-hitting, rhythm-driven alt-rock, layered with enigmatic lyrics.
“Lyrically, the songs are about nothing and everything all at once,” says front man Ronald Malfi. “The music is mid-range heavy but deceptively upbeat. The lyrics -the meaning behind the lyrics- are much darker than the casual listener might realize.”
The backbone of the band consists of bassist Christian Mathis and drummer Jon Malfi, whose cohesion forms a steady pulsing groove at the heart of each song. Hook-laden choruses, driving guitar riffs augmented by lead guitarist Ryan Fowler’s blistering solos, and energetic live performances have quickly earned the band a place among the mid-Atlantic’s elite.
VEER’s debut album, Apocalyptic, Baby, was released on December 1, 2018, and immediately broke the Amazon Top 100 rock album sales upon release. The band supported the record release with a sold-out CD release show. VEER closed out the year performing live at the 2018 Maryland Music Awards, where they were nominated for two awards, and took home the award for Best Rock Band. In April of 2019, VEER was awarded Best Rock Song for their single “Come Clean” by the World Songwriting Awards, an international organization that promotes and recognizes songwriting in various genres throughout 129 countries worldwide. The band just recently released a brand new EP in October of 2019 called Shut Up and Breathe.
We sat down with VEER’s drummer Jon Malfi and threw a few questions at him to learn a little more about VEER.
I’m a music nerd and love to know what’s in a band name. Sometimes it’s something cool with a story behind it and sometimes it’s just something random. What about Veer?
Jon Malfi/VEER: Our name VEER came about form tossing ideas around with all the band members. We have all know each other for a very long time and played in other bands together over the years. My brother Ronald and I were out of the scene for a good decade and decided to form this band. I came to the rest of the members with VEER, explaining that we all went our separate ways, then VEERed back together. We all thought it was fitting because the name of the band was not as important to us as the music we were making.
Every super hero or villain has an origin and so does a band minus the radioactive spiders and government experiments……..well, sometimes. What’s the origin of Veer?
I kind of touched on it a little in the first question, but, My brother Ronald and myself had a jam session with our guitarist Ryan and things just clicked, like they did 10-15 years ago. I kind of forgot what it was like to be a part of a band and create amazing songs with talented people. After, we decided to do another session, Ryan brought in our long time friend Christian to round out the sound. Soon after that, the radio active bug got us (lol) and VEER was formed. We continued to play together under the radar until we had enough material to actually announce the start of the band. We booked a couple of shows with some national acts that came through Maryland and started to demo the first album Apocalyptic, Baby. The rest is history, so to speak.
Do people get you and Veer Union confused? Has anyone ever showed up for your show expecting Veer Union?
To be honest, I didn’t even know who the Veer Union was until the our band was established. I also do graphic design on the side for a lot of bands and concert promoters, and one day the Veer Union came across my desk and I was like, WOW! I then checked them out and thought they were dope. To answer the rest of the question, no, we haven’t had anyone come to a show expecting the Veer Union. Maybe we should do a show with them and really confuse people. lol
One place in the entire world that’s on your bucketlist to play live.
Damn! This is a hard one. I am sure everyone in the band has their own places that they would want to play, but, I am sure I can speak for everyone in the band when I say a stadium. Doesn’t matter which one, but I think that experience would be amazing.
Favorite cartoon growing up or current?
This is a cool one. Everyone in the band has their own favorite cartoons from back in the day and I am sure current ones as well. We are all really into Movies and Comic Books and are all still big kids, lol. My brother Ronald is a huge Star Wars fan and I am a very big Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan. I have loved them ever since I was little and continue to collect the figures and watch the cartoons with my kids. I even have TMNT Tattoos all over me. Gotta love the Turtles!
