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The year couldn’t start in a more exciting way for VENUES: Their first headline tour is an important goal for all up-and-coming bands. So it’s only logical that we not only had to take a look, but also get a few questions off our chest. In the interview, singer Lela talks about the challenges of such a tour, what the current album Transience is all about and what her highlights on the tour are or will be.
Thanks again to lightinmirror.de for the wonderful photographic support!
Shieldmaiden’s Voice: If you had to describe VENUES in three words, what would they be?
Lela: Oh…mhm… I’d say evolving, then we’re a little bit kooky and we’re definitely motivated too!
SV: What makes you particularly worth listening to?
Lela: Basically the mix between the clean vocals and the shouts, they are more and more common now, but it’s something different. We’re also constantly trying out new things and developing further without losing the VENUES sound. In concrete terms, this means that surprises can always happen, but they’re never so blatant that you don’t know what you’re listening to anymore.
SV: How much of yourselves is in the songs?
Lela: Everything, actually! We are a very democratic band when it comes to songwriting. That means that each band member writes their own parts on their respective instruments, which means that a lot of yourself comes into the songs anyway. We also all have different influences from the music we listen to in our private lives. Of course, these also come into our music and in the end we decide democratically. We want everyone to be happy with the songs and make sure that everyone can find themselves in the songs. Thematically, it’s the same. We always talk about what’s on our minds at the moment, whether there’s anything in particular or we listen to the (instrumental) songs and then think about how they make us feel. Usually a theme comes out of that. That was more the case with Transience than with Solace, that you process personal things.
SV: What themes play a role in Transience in particular?
Lela: There is a lot of personal growth in Transience. It’s about resilience and emerging stronger from difficult situations. It should become clear that things are transient and that this doesn’t have to be a negative thing. Animal welfare and, unfortunately, illness also play a role.
SV: When you listen to it like that, it’s a wild mix of themes. Why is the album still worth listening to?
Lela: Because it always comes back to this transience in its basic substance, Transience also means “transience”. No matter which of the aforementioned themes you pick out, it always ends in the realization that everything is transient. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is of course always different. The mere fact that you realize that things are finite also makes you learn to appreciate things better. So you should also appreciate the album! [we laugh]
SV: “Appreciating things” is also a good keyword: We’re here today at the tour kick-off in Leipzig and you’ll be on the road a lot over the coming weekends. What are your expectations of the tour?
Lela: Above all, I expect that we’ll get on well as a band and as a crew, who are also here, and that it will be a good time. At our level, it’s not like you can make a living or really earn money from it. It would be nonsense to do this just for the money. We really do it for the experience and for the memories that we take home with us and that we carry with us for the rest of our lives. First and foremost we want it to be a great experience for the fans, for the crew and for us! I think it’s always great at small shows like today and like we’re going to have the whole tour, that it’s such a family atmosphere and you feel really connected to the fans.
SV: Despite the fact that it’s not yet going as economically as with the really, really big ones, this is your first headline tour. How does it feel to reach this milestone?
Lela: I always try to block it out a bit, because it puts a lot of pressure on you! It’s quite different and I can’t quite grasp it yet that people are actually buying tickets to see us and not buying tickets for someone else and we’re saying “Look, we’re here too by the way!”. I don’t think this realization will come until the middle of the tour, if at all. Maybe it will come at the very end.
SV: They don’t say “pressure makes diamonds“ for nothing!
Lela: That’s true! Let’s hope it applies here too!
SV: What are your personal highlights on the tour?
Lela: We’ve thought about a few things for the show, but I don’t want to reveal them just yet… But as I said, I’m pleased that it’s always small clubs, but at best they’ll be relatively full and in that respect it’s looking very good at the moment. So hopefully the atmosphere will be very good. We’ll have a piano at the show, for example, so that we can play the album in full. And the rest will follow! It’s all a bit like a cloud floating in front of you at the moment and you just dive into it and then things happen all the time that weren’t even on your radar. As long as these things are positive, I’m looking forward to them!
SV: If we exclude the financial aspects, what are the challenges on this tour that outsiders wouldn’t expect, but that you now have to overcome?
Lela: It starts with the space on the bus, the loading situation and how to store everything. As you only have a limited number of seats, you have to think carefully about who you take with you as crew. But that also falls under the heading of “finances”, because if you had more money, you could just get a bigger car or rent a nightliner. In addition, we always have to adapt the show to the stage. If you compare this tour to a support tour or a festival show, the biggest challenge is definitely the pressure you put on yourself, because you just want to put on the best possible show. You also want people to think that it was worth coming to a headline show and not regret buying a ticket.
SV: What are your favorites that are on the setlist for this tour?
Lela: Definitely Unspoken Words. I really like singing that one. I didn’t like singing it at first because it was quite challenging for me, but now I can do it and now I really like singing it!
SV: What plans and wishes do you and the band have for 2025?
Lela: We definitely want to make new music. We’ve already talked about whether we want to tackle a new album and if so, how. Transience was created over two years and we have “only” produced singles during that time. We’ve already thought about whether we should do it differently this time and whether we shouldn’t rent somewhere for two weeks to do some songwriting. But nothing is firmly planned yet. It’s also questionable whether it would be feasible. It would be great, but we all have to work. But there will definitely be new music, no matter what!
SV: What personal life wisdom would you like to share with the world in conclusion?
Lela: What you don’t change, you choose.
2025 looks set to be an exciting year for VENUES too and we’re looking forward to seeing where their journey takes them! We’ll soon be continuing with STESY’s interview, which also has something to do with animal welfare… But more on that soon!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 