Going Up North

It appears we have hit the middle to last few weeks of the Eastpak Antidote tour. We have almost covered half of Europes landscape so far and I can honestly say it is nothing short of beautiful. Minus the lack of sun light, occasional dirty rest area, and cold, stormy/overcast weather. So maybe it doesn't sound that beautiful, but throw some sun light on the situation and you have some beautiful scenery. We drove through a good portion of the Alps which is some of the most amazing mountain sides and tops you will ever see.

I'm not quite sure where we left off from last time, so I'll start off with Vienna, Austria. This city and country has tons of history. So much that it was nearly impossible for me to wrap my head around. We met a great guy the night before that our friends Kalle and Laura hooked us up with, named Phillip, who was from the city of Vienna. He let us crash at his place which has only happened literally 3 times previously on this tour, so it was fantastic to get to sleep under the roof of an apartment instead of the roof of our spilter van. Him and I sat up for a few minutes that night talking about music and what not, and he helped me come to the realization that people in Europe who are into "punk rock" have a wider perception of the genre than people back home. Any band that is somewhat involved with the huge world of the punk rock genre and sub genres is for the most part excepted and ok to call a "punk band". Anywho, it was a cool conversation and interesting to think about.

The next day Phillip took us around the city and was a great tour guide for us around the city of Vienna. He showed us everything from some of the oldest chapels in the city to their Parliament and some Christmas time market places. He knew such much about his city, country, and culture and it was so interesting to hear what he had to say. It was also really cool how much he appreciated and how proud he was to be from his country. Don't see that in everyday life.

We just got finished doing a few German shows which had been fun. We had a day off in Munster the day before we played at their venue, Skaters Palace. We walked around with our friend Larry who techs for Sum 41 and some of the guys and crew from The Black Pacific. We did a little walking around the city, which was a very industrial place. Hit up a few Kebab shops, thought about going to a movie then backed down on the thought of, "we might not understand anything they are saying". So we ended up where anyone on tour would end up on a day off... a bar. But not just any bar, a pub in fact that was built in the 1640's! We all fell in a found ourselves with a big beer (a cheap beer at that) in our hands and some drinks. We all had a great time recapping the tour and talking about what we are doing when we get back home. That night our friend Kalle let us crash in his hotel room which was another first and very awesome.

Now that we are winding down to the last few days we are about to head up north. We hit a ferry this morning and are now in Copenhagen, Denmark. We are traveling through Sweden tonight to leave for a ferry tomorrow to head to Helsinki! This will be the farthest up north we have ever played! Its going to be an adventure and a challenge but we are ready to take it on!

We that's that. We will hit you with another blog by the time we get home or right before we head back. Thanks for checking in!

Brad

So we are coming up on the half way point of The Eastpak Antidote tour and things have been awesome. I’ve attempted to write this blog several times in the past couple of days and update you guys on how things are but honestly there isn’t too much to update you on. We have been playing awesome shows, meeting awesome people and seeing a lot of sites. SO, that being said I’m going to try something out of the box a little bit and blog about some things that are on my mind and update you at the same time. Like I said earlier we’ve been seeing a lot of very beautiful sites in mainland Europe and the more places we play the more I am starting to realize that America is a really young country. There are so many buildings in all of the cities that are centuries old, epic churches, massive squares, endless libraries, cobblestone roads, and even some of the venues we have been playing have so much history in them.



The common phrase I’ve noticed coming out of all of our mouths is "Wow we don’t have things like this in the states". I feel like America is so concentrated on moving forward that we sometimes forget to look back on our past. We bulldoze landmarks and move cemeteries to put shopping malls and fast food restaurants in their place. No wonder Europeans have a bad taste in their mouths for us sometimes. When they look at us all they see is people waiting for the next bigger better thing. Never stopping to "stop and smell the roses". We have been seeing all the traditional tourist sites and trying some traditional food here and there, I’m not too big on trying stuff but I’ve been attempting to broaden my horizons. Outside of that in the past 24 hours of writing this blog we have been pulled over twice by German border control, crossed the Swiss border and seen more snowin 20 minutes than I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Things are starting to pick up event wise in the Veara camp so expect a hopefully more entertaining blog next week!

Bryan

It's been an adventurous couple of weeks over here in Europe on the Eastpak Antidote tour. As you read in the last blog, we were in the United Kingdom and we had a blast over there! We also got our first house stay over in the UK in Glasgow. It was great to be sleeping on a floor and couches rather than the small space in our van. Joy and her friends and family allowed us in their home on the night of the Glasgow show. They were very kind and even made us some toast with peanut butter and jam for breakfast. It was fantastic! Also they shared with us the magical soda of Scotland, Iron Bru. We haven't had any yet I dont believe, but we heard it was awful for your teeth haha. Thank you guys so much and hope to hang out again in Glasgow soon!

Since the last post we finished up the UK with three great shows in Manchester, Birmingham, and Bristol. All of you were fantastic and we had a great time playing for you guys. Cheers, mates!

So after our adventures in the UK and a 5 hour drive after Bristol, we hit up a ferry on the way to the mainland. We've never taken a ferry before and if you've never been on one, it's basically a mini cruise ship and you take your vehical on it with you. This boat had a movie theatre, resteraunt, shops, bars, and plenty of lounging areas, including cabins and rooms to stay in. Now if you know the Veara crew, we don't really do many hotels and such (if you haven't noticed with the camping in the van pictures) so we just crashed out all around in the lounge areas. It felt weird just passing out in the middle of this giant living room/ waiting room area at first, but when I woke up to check out the boat some, I noticed we weren't the only ones to sleep in random places on the boat. Seeing that didn't make me feel as strange haha.

6 hours later from a nice rest and boat cruise, we land in the mainland, in Netherlands or Holland to be exact. This was pretty interesting at first because 1) we we're back to the right side of the road and our vehical has the steering wheel on the right, so it was a little half backwards 2) none of us have any idea what the signs say because they are all in dutch. Luckily the Tom Tom was good to us and showed us the way through the beautiful streets of Holland. Also led us to our first meal in Europe, McDonalds. Pretty American of us but we had to get some type of close-to-home fix. That night, we made our way to Tilburg, which was a really nice city and where we would be playing the next night at O13. The venue was actually right around the corner from the pubs and such we were hanging at. When we showed up in the city we went to meet up with The Black Pacific guys and explored the town and bars. We got our beers and such and then headed back to our van for a good nights rest to get ready for the show the next day.

The first night in Europe was great! Holland was full of greatful and polite people and we were so happy to play for the great people of that country. Same to everyone in Luxembourg at the Rockhal, who we played for the next day. We also had a place to stay after the show in Luxembourg thanks to our good friend Kalle who is on the Eastpak tour with us. We rolled out to Belgium to stay with Laura, who was very helpful and gave us a cozy place to stay! Thank you! We are only 3 days deep into Europe and everyone has been fantastic and the shows have been great! Tonight was our first night in Paris and it was sold out! It was very exciting to come out to a full room and to see everyone with estatic looks on their faces. Merci Beaucoup to all of you fine people in France!

Next stop is Brussels, Belgium. Keep checking in on the Veara blog to keep up with us.

- Bradley

So we have just spent a little under a week in the UK and it’s been such a crazy time already! First thing right off the plane and the tour starts off like any normal Veara tour would... with problems. We come out of the terminal and are greeted by Spadge a guy who works for a company that rents Vans to Bands. We get into the van and it ends up being a Manuel transmission. None of us can drive a manual transmission (stick shift) vehicle except for Brittany who learned how to drive one when she was 16 and hasn’t driven one since. So Patrick gives it a try and stalls out once, Spadge coaches him a little bit and Patrick gives it another try. We stall out again. Spadge comes up to the van..... laughing at this point and reassures us WE CAN DO IT and Patrick goes for it again. This time he gets a little further but seconds later he stalls out. Next Brittany gives it a try and starts to drive out of the parking lot! But it stalls out and begins to roll backwards into traffic. Needless to say Spadge was nice enough to be our driver for the day, which really helped us out a ton!




After that we headed to Norwich the first date and it was a blast! Everyone we have met over here so far have been so nice and polite to us, from the crew on the tour, the bands we are opening for to the people that live here, it’s been nothing but good times!

After Norwich we drove over to Southampton where we played at The Guild Hall, which was nice because we got some time to walk around and explore the city. I went to a mall and wandered around a little bit with one of the guys from The Riverboat Gamblers afterward I realized how small and compact everything is over here. Small cars, small drinks, narrow roads, and smaller portions of food even the value of the American dollar is smaller over here.....EVERYTHING IS SMALL OVER HERE. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind it, it’s actually really interesting and fun to see, it’s just really strange to me and makes me wonder if living in America has made me somewhat of a pig/spoiled I mean I should probably know how to drive a stick shift and appreciate the 12 passenger van I get to relax in on those 16 hour drives from New York to Georgia. I don’t know..... anyways after the show we went to a club / bar and it was very different from the clubs in the states, instead of playing popular rap, top 40 hits, or some crappy club remix of a Celine Dion song they bands like Papa Roach, Slipknot, Comeback Kid, and old Linkin Park. It was SICK! I ended up hanging out with this guy Nick who actually came to the show that night. He was an awesome guy! He bought one of our shirts and had picked up our record off of iTunes when it hit the internet. So we proceeded to talk about music and all the things you go through when you first meet someone and he ended up being a really rad dude. He bought me a couple of shots and ended up getting me pretty drunk hahaha. By the way, thank you so much Nick if you are reading this you brought me some really interesting shots that night! So next on the tour was London. We played The Forum which was such a nice venue, The Guild Hall was nice in kind of an old school way. They had things like a wooden handle attached to a chain hanging from the ceiling to flush the toilets but The Forum was nice in a modern way. There was a dressing room for us and a nice shower area and all of the staff was really friendly. We had a couple of interviews, one with a man from Alter the Press named John and finally got to meet our European booking agent Tobbe which was really awesome. On top of that we got invited to The Eastpak after party where Cone for Sum 41 and Jim Lindberg from The Black Pacific DJ'd a couple of songs. It was a great time! I got a Sol poured on me played air guitar with Mark the guitarist from The Black Pacific and our mech man ole Shelb's. I ended up meeting a few brits and hating on the American accent for awhile. Apparently we say "OH MY GOD" and "Let's go to the mall" a lot. It’s funny to hear everyone hating on our accents but let’s get real there aint nothing like a glass of ice cold sweet tea and a T.V. dinner smothered in Texas Pete hot sauce on the front porch watching the dog chase squirrels around in the front yard. Not to mention the beauty of the American flag on your mail box blowin in the southern wind. We are now to our day off we have to drive to Glasgow, Scotland. Which we used to go site seeing with good ole John from Alter the Press, I had the the traditional fish n chips for lunch and then we went to go see Big Ben, Parliament, The Eye of London, and a ton of other awesome sites!
We will keep you updated with more and keep checking back! See y'all on the road Europe!

Long time, No blog.

Hey guys,
It's been quite a while since I've logged into this account and updated you on what's going on in the wild world of Veara. This past year has been nothing short of amazing for us and we've had so many "first timers" in the past few months that I'm running out of fingers to count them on. We are so thankful for all the good things that have happened to us this year and all the amazing people and listeners that have helped us get there.

I'll pick up from middle of the summer. At the time, we haven't had a tour since the "Toursick" tour with A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein, and Enter Shikari, which by the way, was one of the most overwhelming and dream-come-true tour experiences we've ever had so far. We had done our hometown album release show, some random regional shows, had been added to and announced our spot at the Soundwave Festival in Australia, and preparing ourselves for tours to come.





First tour after Toursick was the "Buff Chick Tour" in July/August with Our Last Night, The Bled, I Am Abomination, and on the last few dates, a great new upcoming band called Armor For The Broken. We met some of the most realist, down to earth people on this tour and couldn't have asked for anything better. We had hit some cites and towns we have never hit before and we're surprised by most of the responses. Kids coming out to shows to see us? They know the words to the songs?? It was great knowing that our music has reached out to these people and they were coming out to sing it back at us. Thank ya'll for that!



Last day of that tour we had the chance to play with one of our favorite and most inspired by bands in the pop punk scene, New Found Glory. It was an unreal day and we played in a small venue in Pensacola, FL called "Phienna's Phogg". Our good friends in The Wonder Years also played. It was an incredible experience getting to play with and meet the band whose music fuels and inspires us personally and our music.



Yesterday, we just finished up our tour with one of pop punk's most riffin' acts, Rufio. Warped Tour 2004 in Atlanta, GA, I walked into the gate, ran up to the main stages, and they were the first band to walk out and play. Other bands that joined us on the tour were two Ohio acts, Close To Home and Before Their Eyes, who we met up to do a few shows with a few days before the Rufio tour. We went to California for the first time ever on this tour, and also experienced Las Vegas together as a band for the first time ever. All the bands were great and we had an awesome time getting to know everyone and making fun of each others slang and accents (which always seems to happen on every tour).



We got home about 5 o clock this afternoon, coming straight from Poughkeepsie, NY, where our last show of the Rufio/BTE/CTH tour was, which was one of the most insane shows on the tour! It was awesome that it ended with a bang. Now we are preparing and packing to get on a non-stop flight at 10:50pm tomorrow out of Atlanta to go and meet up for our first ever UK/European tour with Sum 41, The Black Pacific, and The Riverboat Gamblers on the Eastpak Antidote Tour. This is almost unreal for us. I don't think it has hit any of us and wont until we show up at the venue and realize, "Hey, we're in another country." We are so stoked on this and can't wait to come play for all you in the UK and Europe!

So that about wraps it up. This is one of the first "blogs" or anything of the sort that I have ever written, so forgive me for my grammar skills.

Just to let all you folks across the pond (that's you UK/Europe) know that our debut Epitaph Records and Running Man Records release "What We Left Behind" will be hitting your shelves on October 25th, which is two days before the Eastpak Antidote tour! We will have the album available at all of our UK/European shows, as well.

We'll be updating ya'll here all during the Eastpak Antidote tour. Thanks for reading and see you at a show!

- Bradley

Studio Update #1

So we made some "update" video's when we were in the studio back in January recording our full length, "What We Left Behind". We were fortunate enough to be able to work with the talented and clever, Drew Russ (www.youtube.com/user/drewxruss). We had a great time working with Drew and a lot of fun doing the updates. Check out our first studio update below! More to come...



Brad

WE HAVE SIGNED TO EPITAPH RECORDS/RUNNING MAN

POP PUNK GROUP VEARA INKS DEAL WITH EPITAPH AND RUNNING MAN
Current mood: stoked

Epitaph Records, in partnership with Running Man Records, is proud to announce the signing of pop-punk group Veara. The Augusta, GA based band recently wrapped recording on their new studio album, which is expected for release this spring.

The pop-punk foursome consisting of Bradley Wyrosdick (Vocals), Patrick Bambrick (Vocals/Guitar), Bryan Kerr (Vocals/Bass) and Brittany Harrell (Drums) formed in 2003 and have since self-released an EP and full-length album and have toured with bands like The Maine, DangerRadio and Powerspace. In 2009 the band contacted Jeremy McKinnon and Joshua Woodard of hot pop-punk outfit A Day To Remember, who were looking for bands to work with on their newly formed company Running Man Records, and the rest is history.

“The dudes in Veara called me one night to see if I was in town and if I wanted to stop by and check out their new demos they had just wrapped up,” explains Woodard. “I got them to burn me a CD, and within 5 minutes of leaving them I knew they were the band I wanted to work with.”

In January of 2010, Veara entered Wade Studios in Ocala, FL, with McKinnon in the producer’s chair and Andrew Wade tracking and mixing, where they recorded their forthcoming album. Looking for a partner to release the record, McKinnon and Woodard contacted Epitaph’s owner and president Brett Gurewitz who was immediately interested and inked a deal with the band and Running Man to release the album.

"Signing with Epitaph is something that we used to dream of,” says guitarist Bambrick. “We cannot express how stoked we are to be signing with a label that we have been fans of for years. Epitaph has put out many timeless albums, and we are stoked to be a part of an awesome family."

Already championed by readers on popular music site Absolutepunk.net, Veara’s explosive edgy pop-punk riffs and catchy hook driven choruses have made them one of the year’s most promising breakout bands. Catch the band live on their upcoming tour with A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein and Enter Shikari this April.

Stay tuned for more info on Veara’s debut album from Epitaph Records and Running Man Records!

Veara Tour Dates:

Mar 19 – Augusta, GA – Sector 7G
Mar 20 – Douglasville, GA – The 7 Venue
Mar 21 – Virginia Beach, VA – Skate High (w/The Ataris)
Mar 22 – Richmond, VA – The Canal Club (w/ The Ataris)
Mar 28 – Wilmington, NC – Soapbox Laundrolounge (w/Silverstein)
Mar 29 – Jacksonville, FL – Jack Rabbits (w/Silverstein)
Mar 31 – Ft. Laouderdale, FL – Revolution SOLD OUT (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 1 – Tampa, FL – The Ritz Ybor (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 2 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 3 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 4 – Charlotte, NC – Amos’ Southend (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 5 – Norfolk, VA – The Norva (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 6 – Baltimore, MD – Sonar (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 7 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory SOLD OUT (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 8 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom SOLD OUT (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 9 – New York, NY – Nokia Theatre SOLD OUT (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 10 – New York, NY – Nokia Theatre SOLD OUT (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 12 – Boston, MA – House of Blues (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 13 – Montreal, QC – Metropolis (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 14 – Toronto, ON – The Sound Academy (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 15 – Detroit, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 16 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 17 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogarts (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)
Apr 18 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues (w/A Day To Remember, August Burns Red, Silverstein & Enter Shikari)

EPITAPH

RUNNING MAN