Interview with Versus The Nothing

Versus the Nothing

Versus the Nothing

Versus the Nothing is about to hit the road to bring their highly energetic live shows on an extensive tour through Canada and the U.S. The band's hard rock sound features powerful melodic vocals, heavy riffs and driving rhythm. The band will play songs from their EP Black Gloves, which was released in July 2011. Versus the Nothing also promises to play new songs that they have been writing for their upcoming full length album.

Versus the Nothing stems from Vancouver, British Columbia and consist of Ross (vocals), Ande (guitar, vocals), Chris (guitar, vocals), Jay (bass), and Jake (drums, vocals). The band has been together for seven years and the band member's influences range from Incubus, Guns ‘n' Roses, Nirvana, and Faith no More.

The EP Black Gloves was produced by Jay Evjen, who has previously worked with Hot Hot Heat and Wide Mouth Mason. The first single release from this EP is the rocking song KILLER. This song was mixed by Mike Fraser who has worked with AC/DC, Sam Roberts and Hedley.

The name of the EP Black Gloves is a lyric from the song KILLER. "It's like, let put the gloves on and do some work," Ande says. "That's kind of our attitude we just want to keep doing everything we possibly can to survive as artists."

Versus the Nothing released their debut album ‘Let it all come down' in 2008. "I would say the difference between our new EP and our last full length is the amount of songs," Ande says while laughing. "It is more upbeat. We spent a lot of time on the road, and this album, we wanted to write songs that were fun songs to play live."

There will be lots of opportunities between now and the middle of April to see this energetic hard rock band live. The first show will be in Vancouver on February 17^th, ending in Calgary on April 13^th, 2012. For tour dates check here.

"In your own words" – ONE on ONE with Mel and Ande

Mel: How did you come up with your band name and what is the meaning of it?

Ande: The band name was inspired by the movie the Never Ending Story. The meaning is to fighting adversity. No matter what it is you are trying to overcome, whether it is drug addiction, school tests, or climbing a mountain, it always seems daunting but after you overcome, it seems like it was very easy or not nearly as hard as it looked previously.

Mel: Could you please tell us about your song writing process?

Ande: The song writing process is always different but most of the time someone will bring in a skeleton of a song or a riff or melody and we put it through the "Versus the Nothing Filter." But we believe in the song, a good song is a good song and it should stand on its own even in its minimalist form.

Mel: Where do you get your inspiration from?

Ande: Our inspirations come from life and life experiences. If you dig into our songs it's a glimpse into what we have been feeling and living, home life and tour life. The ups the down, the lefts, the rights, songs are everywhere you just have to capture them in the most organic and purest way.

Mel: Could you please tell us about the music scene in Vancouver?

Ande: The Music scene in Vancouver is awesome. It's a real tight community, lots of support. It's a great place to develop your craft.

Mel: What do you like best, when you perform live?

Ande: The rush that you get! You feel so alive. Also lots of obstacles to jump on make it super fun.

Mel: What would you like to achieve with your music?

Ande: We just want to play and write music. Hopefully that puts food on the table.

Mel: I saw at your last show in Toronto that Ross has the numbers ‘09 30 06' tattooed on his arm. What is the meaning of this tattoo?

Ande: The numbers on Ross's arm is the day he got married to his wife. It's so he can remember to buy flowers.

Mel: Which artist would you like to record a song with and why?

Ande: Dave Grohl!! The guy is such an amazing musician and seems like a super cool guy too.

Mel: Where do you see Versus the Nothing in five years?

Ande: Five years from now, I think we will be still writing, touring, but on a bigger scale and everywhere around the world. But we might be older and fat (laughs).

February 17, 2012 by Melanie Schade

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Versus The Nothing Tickets may be available at TicketScene