Ley Shoemark chats with Vera Blue about her Mercurial album, the tour, new music, new collabs, and her sausage dog Texas.
Vera Blue is looking forward to playing her first Wine Machine festival.
“I’m super excited to be playing Canberra this weekend,” she beams. “It is going to be so fun. It’s a good line-up, and it will be exciting to bring the Mercurial show to the festival. I am super pumped for Wine Machine.”
Vera Blue is also a huge fan of Canberra’s beauty, commenting on her love for our parks and Floriade Festival.
It has been ten years since Vera Blue was a contestant on The Voice, and in that time she has released three studio recordings, played myriad festivals, launched album tours in Europe and the United States, and developed as an artist with rich emotional depth and heartfelt writing, with a voice that expresses that emotion beautifully.
Everyone loves a good festival and, after the industry took a hit with the pandemic, Vera is happy to see things in that realm are back on track.
“I love festivals because I love the energy,” she enthuses. “Everyone is there to have a good time, and it’s great for the artists because there is a lot less pressure. The sets are shorter, there are lots of other artists, and you get to hang out backstage and just have fun.
“Festivals are like a big party, and I plan to keep the energy high.”
And with a magical sunset show in the offing, Vera Blue’s performance will be something special.
A deep, empowered body of work .
Mercurial is a very deep body of work which took a long time to make due to the recording process being slowed by COVID. Said world-stopper also created a lack of experiences at that time from which to draw inspiration. This said, Vera was able to assess her mental health during that time and therefore learn a lot about herself.
The album centres around mental illness, finding new love, and empowerment, and although the album is deeply emotional, the outcome is self-growth.
“The powerful thing about making music is we can get to the bottom of things, which allows healing. We can say things we wouldn’t usually say in a normal conversation, and you can express that emotion through sound.”
Mercurial was a fitting title due to the diversity of emotions and personal experience during its making. The word ‘mercurial’ correlates with the previous album Perennial. The word is a very fitting one for this album, as Vera explains.
“It’s a chopping and changing of emotions, sudden change in emotional state of mind, which is exactly what Mercurial is.”
Since its release, it’s been wild for Vera Blue, super busy with sustained touring, hitting all the major cities, and now another run of festivals and upcoming shows overseas.
Further to this, Vera Blue is no stranger to massive collaborations. There’s Paper Cuts with Australian hip hop sensation Illy, and the smash hit Rushing Back with Australian electronic artist Flume.
And she’s not slowing down on the collab front, either. Vera is soon to work with American electronic artist and producer Illenium, as she has always loved his music. Shooting for the stars Vera would love to collab with Harry Styles or Lana Del Rey, which Vera says would be amazing for her, and locally Vera mentioned she would love to do a song with her mates Skeggs (cannot wait for that) and Ruby Fields, who she absolutely adores.
Exploring a darker side.
Vera is already working on new material. But be prepared; it may take us to a dark place. Vera expressed she loves dark music, and the experimentation in the studio is headed in that direction, possibly with elements of trap, industrial, and/or ethereal EDM.
Vera loves the idea of a darker album, and feels that the music would be hard hitting when performing on stage, hinting at something over-the-top crazy.
And with this Herculean workload, I have to ask: does she ever get time for herself?
“When I do get time off, it’s like imposter syndrome,” she states. “I really had to learn how to switch off and have a rest, and do things I love away from music or planning music.
“Like hanging out with my sausage dog Texas! Or going to the beach, or getting a massage.
“The work cycle can be hard to break, especially when you’re constantly looking for inspiration.”
So get out and see the busy-busy Vera Blue while you can. In no time she will be headed to the United States to tour, as well as continuing the development of her new material. From there it’s Europe, and reconnecting with her fans there for a Mercurial tour.
As for Wine Machine, Vera is kind enough to give us some parting advice:
“Always stay hydrated, hold on to your friends, and have an amazing time celebrating live music.”
Vera Blue is playing at Wine Machine on Saturday, 25 March at Commonwealth Park. The event runs from 3pm – 11pm. For more info and tickets head to https://wine-machine.com/wine-machine-canberra/
