Live music and touring are on lockdown right now and fans as well as artists are going through withdrawals. We wanted to come up with something fun to help bridge that distance between fans and artists right now. What we came up with is something called The Lockdown Lowdown and it’s a Q&A session with fun questions for artists to answer. They’re not your typical interview questions, so it gives you a peek inside of the artists themselves. We’re big music nerds here at I’m Music Magazine and we love learning things like this about the artists that we love. We’re pretty sure that you’ll get a kick out of these, so we hope you’ll take the time to read them. In this installment, we sat down for a fun Q&A session with 3/4’s of Maryland Music Awards winners VEER!
How have you been doing during the pandemic and how are you spending your time?
Ronald Malfi: A lot of songwriting, a lot of writing and creative projects in general. We recently finished shooting a music video, which we shot individually in our homes. Since we couldn’t all be together in real life to shoot it, we didn’t want to trick the audience with photography to make it look like we were. Instead, we embraced the quarantine and the video is clearly of us in isolation.
Christian Mathis: Fortunately still working, otherwise spending a lot of time binge watching some TV.
Jon Malfi: Building guitars for my business Freestate Custom Guitars. I have also been working on a lot of cool concepts and ideas for our next album, and some of the promotional things that will go along with it. I am also finishing up editing our “quarantine” video for “Breathe.”
Have you been working on new music?
Ronald: I’ve been writing a ton of new music—everything from snippets of songs or riffs to fully completed songs. I wouldn’t say this burst of creative energy is due to the pandemic, but the time at home alone and with my family has given me extra time to invest in projects like songwriting, or even writing fiction, which is my “day” job when not performing with VEER. I’m in my studio basement almost daily working on new material, some of which I’ve already shared with the guys. I’m just excited to get back to rehearsing as a band again.
Christian: We recently released our Breathe E.P. To all digital formats, it was previously only available to purchase at our shows, also we worked on “quarantine” video to accompany it which should be released soon. We are currently in the process of writing for a new record and should have a new music out soon!
Jon: We are always working on new stuff either in person, via text or the famous ZOOM calls.
What are five albums that changed your life?
Ronald: Live’s Throwing Copper, U2’s The Joshua Tree, the soundtrack to the movie Great Balls of Fire, pretty much any CCR record, and Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys.
Christian: Oh man this question lol, well in no order: Arcade Fire – Funeral, Nirvana – Nevermind, HUM – You’d Prefer an Astronaut , Built To Spill – Keep it Like a Secret, Broken Social Scene – You Forgot In People.
Jon: Marilyn Manson- Antichrist Superstar, 40 Below Summer- The Morning After, Killswitch Engage- The End of Heartache, Green Day- Dookie, Incubus- Make Yourself…. Shit I could do this all day, it’s too hard to just name a few.
Name five artists that influenced you as a musician.
Jon: Jose Pasillas, Ginger Fish, Nick Menza, Ginger Baker, Abe Cunningham. These are just drummers, I have a lot of other musicians that helped shape me through the years.
What are your five favorite live albums?
Christian: Nirvana Unplugged, Alice and Chains Unplugged, Tool – Salival (Pushit!), Arcade Fire w/ David Bowie Live EP, The Roots – Come Alive
Ronald: Bruce Springsteen’s Live 1975-85.
Jon: Slipknot 9.0, Marilyn Manson- Remix and Repent, NOFX- I heard they suck live, Metallica- Live Shit, Binge and Purge, Clutch- Live at the 9:30 Club.
What are your five favorite movies?
Ronald: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, Poltergeist, Gremlins, Close Encounter of the Third Kind.
Christian: Star Wars, Back to the Future, The Big Lebowski, Good Fellas
Jon: All the TMNT Movies, Nightmare on Elm Street, Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, Donnie Brasco.
What’s the best and worst advice you ever heard?
Ronald: The best advice is to write everyday—be it music, fiction, poetry, whatever. This is also the worst advice.
Jon- Best Advice, Life is really simple unless you are stupid, Worst- Get a real job. lol
What’s the strangest thing you ever autographed?
Ronald: A pair of tits. Also, someone’s Kindle
Jon: An Ear and a car.
If music was over today and you had to go into professional wrestling, what would your wrestling name be?
Ronald: Arrogant Prique.
Christian: Rip Rockefeller
Jon: Bonesaw
