Deena Jakoub, lead singer of VERIDIA talked to The Daily Reveille for a Q&A session about how she feels about performing at this years Voodoo Music and Arts Experience . Its single, “We Are The Brave” was number one for four weeks on the Rock Chart. The band opened at Voodoo last year and will be coming back to play on Halloween day.
TDR: How did VERIDIA start?
Jakoub: We actually started a few years ago, Brandon [guitarist] and I had been performing together for almost 10 years, and we met Kyle [drummer] through some mutual friends. We moved to Nashville to pursue music out here, Brandon and I were originally from Dallas, and I guess we wore the industry out there [Dallas]. So Nashville was calling our name and we met Trevor [guitarist] also and we all just clicked and jammed together. About 100 songs later, we ended up getting signed.
TDR: How did you come up with the name VERIDIA?
Jakoub: That was actually a pretty long process. We were together for about a year before we even had a name, so we were writing and building our brand in that time. We were coming up with something that kind of had some meaning behind it, so we were searching for other words or languages that entailed the word ‘truth’. We wanted to be as honest with our lyrics and music and on a daily basis we just wanted something to remind us to strive for that. We came across ‘veritas’ witch is the Latin word for truth and ‘vertitical’ which is the English word, so the name is mixture of those two.
TDR: How would you describe your music to new fans?
Jakoub: Energetic alternative rock with a fusion of electronic and pretty much anything that inspires us on the daily is imbedded in there. So I think that because we all come from musical background and we try to incorporate so many different styles that there are a lot of different sounds that would reach different audiences.
TDR: You guys opened Voodoo last year, how did you like it?
Jakoub: Last year was pretty amazing. I love NOLA in general, it’s one of my favorite cities to visit. It was pretty spectacular last year to be able to play the same night as Thirty Seconds to Mars and seeing them perform and so many amazing assets are there all weekend.
TDR: Are you excited for this year?
Jakoub: Heck yes. This year we couldn’t be more excited, we get to play longer and come out a day early to hang out and see some of the acts and meet people. Also we’re excited to see what crazy costumes are walking around. Halloween is my favorite holiday so being able to be in the same place where thousands of people are there loving the day and the music, it’s kind of all my favorite things in one weekend.
TDR: What has been your favorite place to play?
Jakoub: I’m definitely going to say New Orleans is one of them. Cincinnati and Chicago are also great. But New Orleans is always really awesome to get spoiled with the Cajun food and the environment is really sweet.
TDR: Your latest release ‘Pretty Lies’, what was your inspiration behind it?
Jakoub: That was inspired by what I feel like everyone struggles with comparing themselves to other people. Because of social media, all of us put out there the good aspects of our lives and good qualities, we filter things and I think it just becomes a struggle for this generation to compare themselves to someone else’s definition of perfection, beauty or success. This song is just calling all of those lies out and just saying that we really should just be happy and loving all of our imperfections and be proud of what we were given.
TDR: You guys will be opening for Evanescence next month, how are you guys feeling about that?
Jakoub: I am so excited. It’s kind of a surreal thing. It was really random being picked for that and we are so grateful that we have this chance. I mean they’re kind of a band that we all listened to growing up and they haven’t played a show in five or more years. So being able to be a part of some of their first performances after coming back is a huge honor. I can’t wait to see what kind of excitement their fans are going to bring.
TDR: Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?
Jakoub: My initial advice for aspiring artists is to really just own your craft whether it’s vocals or an instrument, to make sure that you never reach a level of success where you feel like you’ve done it or like you’re on top. I think that mentality has stifled so many incredible musicians, an ego can always bring you down. If you’re constantly allowing yourself to grow and learn from other people, I think that so many amazing musicians will have so much more opportunities.
TDR: What are some future plans for you guys?
Jakoub: Well, as much writing as possible which is something we’re constantly doing. We are actually in the works of a music video right now. We’ll be on set for that in about two weeks after Voodoo fest. Other than that, probably just getting back into the studio as soon as possible.