Verra City Waves

Verry City Waves, as I would describe them, an indie rock with a suggestion of blues-infused 4-peice band from Oshawa, Ontario Canada. When I initially heard about these guys and where they were from, my assumptions were that they had to be either a metal or a punk band. I grew up about a half hour away from Oshawa and played in a few bands, and the Oshawa scene had always been overwhelmed by metal and punk bands. You could not go to any show without it being at least 80% metal or punk on the bill. I listened to their single “Save Your Dignity“, needless to say I was pleasantly surprised to hear something completely different. I was lucky enough to catch up with guitarist/vocalist Keith Dean to find out a little more about Verra City Waves and what they’re all about.

MW: Who is in your band? What does each member play?

KD: On Lead Vocals is Kiera Amyot, Guitar and Vocals is Keith Dean, Bass and Vocals is Conor Amyot and Drums is Trevor Dewitt.

MW: Give me a brief history of your band, where did you guys meet? How long have you been together? Etc…

KD: Kiera and I started playing together acoustically about 2 years ago. We were just doing local bar gigs as I was busy with a different project. We played Covers mostly with some originals that we had been working on. Then I had moved on from the other project and we both decided to form a band. Conor( Kiera’s brother) was a bass player so we approached him and asked if he would be interested in playing in the band and luckily he agreed. We found a drummer who was a really good buddy of mine. He was really busy with work and life in general and it was kind of hard for him to get out for jam. It was a hard decision but I made the call and told him we were gonna look for somebody else. Then Kiera just posted an ad on Kijiji and Trevor was the first one to reply. He came and jammed and we all knew right away that he was the missing link. That was 8 months ago.

MW: How would you describe the sound of Verra City Waves?

KD: We have a hard time with explaining our sound. We have songs that are totally different from each other but they still sound like us. It’s a classic rock vibe mixed with folk and blues.

MW: You guys are from Oshawa, Ontario Canada. I grew up near Oshawa, played in bands and always found it a bit of a challenge getting shows on a bill that wasn’t filled with punk bands or metal that sounded like it came directly out of the late 90's. Being a band with your sound, do you get a lot of support locally around Oshawa?

KD: The Oshawa scene isn’t the best but it’s a hell of a lot better than it was. There are some hot rock bands coming out of here like 20 Amp Soundchild, The Standstills, London Swagger the list goes on. So it’s not the best but it’s better because of the talent and places like The Thirsty Monk.

MW: Do you guys have a chief songwriter in the band? Or is it generally an equal collaboration between all members?

KD: Generally I bring the skeleton of the song (melody, rhythm, structure) and then everyone has input on changes or additions they hear. It’s a pretty good system so far.

MW: I really dig the single “Save Your Dignity”, are you guys planning a full-length release?

KD: Thank you, really glad you dig the single. We are doing an EP so 5 tracks. Should be out in February.

MW: I just found out about you guys and unfortunately didn’t get to see it, but I saw you just had a gig at The Opera House in Toronto. Being someone who played in a band myself from outside of Toronto, The Opera House was always a really cool venue for any indie band to play at. How was the vibe of the show?

KD: Ya the Opera House show was pretty rad actually. The crowd was good, the sound was great, stage was big so we had lots of room to move around. Everything you could ask for was there so you missed a good one Ha.

MW: Do you have any shows coming up?

KD: We’re playing in Kitchener, Montreal, and Windsor. The local show we are promoting is at the Velvet Underground on December 28th in Toronto. It’s $5, and we go on at 9:45pm should be a really good show.

MW: What does the future have in store for Verra City Waves?

KD: The future of VCW is to get as many shows as we can, in as many different cities and venues as we can, and to add to our fan base. The goal is to tour and we need all of the above to do so.

MW: Where can we find Verra City Waves, do you have a website? Facebook/Twitter/Bandcamp etc?

KD: Ah Yes the plugs! You can find us here;

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

If you have the chance, check these guys out, go to one of their shows and share their music!


Another time.
- Marked Wordz

Oshawa quartet Verra City Waves bring their blues-infused sound to the Elmdale Tavern Friday, Nov 2.

The band started as a duo, made up of singer Kiera Amyot and vocalist/guitarist Keith Dean, before recently adding Kiera's bro Conor on bass and drummer Tervor Dewit. The addition of Conor and Tervor has given the band's vibe a harder edge, Conor says. He admits he never expected to be in a band with his sister.

"We always got along," he says. "It's kind of a big surprise that we ended up doing it. I've always been serious about music, while Kiera sings for fun."

There is a definite sense of fun to Verra City Waves' music mixed in with rock and alternative influences.

The band will release a new EP titled Buried in the Sand (listen to the title track below) in the near future.

Kingston readers can catch the band at the Toucan on Saturday, Nov 3.

Verra City Waves

Fri, Nov 2, 10pm

The Elmdale Tavern

1084 Wellington St W
- Extrapolate