Velahsa is a hard driving punk band backed by lived experience and emotion. The latest album, I Dare You, will pick you up and head you in the right direction. You can catch them at various shows this summer.
Please tell us about your band and how you got together.
My band before Velahsa was called, Codger. Codger was together in some capacity just a few years after high school and close to 15 years. Playing in that band with those 2 friends all of those years made me who I am today, it was a very definitive period in my life for playing music and growing up. It was all about the DIY ethos. From a young age, what resonated with me was the “punk” and/or “alternative” bands. What I took was the idea that there are no rules as long as it is authentic, honest and creative. Those types of bands and especially ones from Minneapolis, had a big impact on me. The Replacements, Husker Du, Soul Asylum. Especially The Replacements. The Replacements album, Sorry Ma Forgot to Take Out The Trash was definitely a guideline for me and learning how to write my own quick energetic songs. At that time, in my 20’s, drinking was a very big part of my identity as well as a huge part of music and it didn’t help that I wanted to be just like Paul Westerberg. Eventually, the drinking was not working anymore and we spent more time drinking than playing music. That was upsetting and my life was turning out the way my dad’s did, and that was scaring me. My dad abandoned our family for alcohol and drugs and I never really forgave him and he died about a year ago. I suppose you could say I came to terms with those feelings when he died. At the end of my drinking times, I was in a bad place. I tried to give up dinking several times only to keep doing it. The girl I was with at that time was a heavy drinker and she said if I quit drinking I would be “no fun”. I finally quit and she left me. This was when I started pursuing long distance bike riding and raising money for families affected by HIV as a way to stay on a healthy path. I also wanted to start fresh musically. I decided to stop playing Codger and not long after that was when Velahsa started. Our Velahsa drummer, Jack, was a childhood friend. We grew up in close proximity. We would bump into each other skateboarding, when we were in elementary school. When my band Codger was playing around town, Jack was also in a band playing around town. We played shows together. Jack and I always had similar musical sensibilities and liked hanging out. I already knew he was a solid guy and great drummer. His band split up a little before Codger split up. I asked Jack to play drums with me in the new band I was starting. I was already writing songs for our first Velahsa album. That moment we first jammed it was like. BOOM. we clicked. We spent that summer in my basement dripping sweat and playing. Just blasting it together. It was a life changing time for me. It was the first time I was playing music with no alcohol. I was fully focused on the music. The healing, the growing, the expression. Nothing getting in the way, just too much caffeine and too many NA beers. It was liberating as hell!
The name Velahsa came to be because I wanted a cool name that could grow with us. I did not want a name that a band might choose when they had too many beers, and then regret it a couple years later. It had to be a long lasting and reasonable name. I had dozens of reptiles growing up and I loved the movie Jurassic Park when it came out. One day when driving to Shakopee I saw a truck mud flap and it read Velocity. That’s it – Our band name! Veloci. The word would be short for Velociraptor, the dinosaur. I shared the idea to Jack and he suggested we spell it phonically correct. Like this Ve-LAH-sa? Yes. Great idea. We had our band name.
Around this time I was also playing drums in 5 active bands. I asked the bass player of one of those bands to join Velahsa. Velahsa was born. Our first show as Velahsa was at Hell’s Kitchen in 2012.
That bass player eventually did not work out but we wish him well.
After him we asked a friend, Steve Burnett who played in a band with Jack many years ago, to fill in for some shows with Velahsa on bass. He also played in Super Hopper in the late 90’s and in Saint Small. He is hard working and very nice guy. Steve played with Velahsa for about a year and was having some health concerns and just too busy, he needed a break.
Now it was back to just me and Jack. I was fine doing the Black Keys thing with just us until we could find a good fit for a bass player. Enter Doug Heeschen. I got to know Doug 10 years ago playing drums with him in a Ramones style band. I stayed in contact with him over the years. Currently he is in The 99er’s and The Best Meds. He has been playing music a long time. Jack and I both liked the idea to ask Doug if he could fill in for our 2024 Duluth Halloween show. He said. “Yes, I am up for the challenge”. This guy is a freakin’ musical machine. He learned nearly an hour of all original songs and some cover tunes, in a matter of weeks for that 2024 Duluth show. AND he was willing to dress up as The Beasties Boys, with a great spirit. A few months after that Doug agreed to be our new permanent bass player.
Your new album, I Dare You, has so much energy. I am drawn to How Can You. It sounds so upbeat and motivating with a message saying, “bad things seem to come to those who wait,” which can be interpreted several ways. Either pessimistically or as a kick in the seat to get going. Can you tell me about your interpretation?
How You Can was one of the first songs that was coming together for I Dare You and I started writing it just a couple of months before my ex said she was leaving/divorcing me. I remember driving to my job in White Bear Lake at 5 am and seeing the sunrise come up to the East and it was bright pink and blue. The song started out as me questioning and doubtful, that my brief marriage would last. When she boastfully exclaimed to me about how her mom always wished that she left her dad. I knew it was a matter of time. The song became a message about, bad things will happen to everyone at some point and you need to keep going. The title and that line will always mean a lot to me. How you can. My daughter is now 9. When she was about 3 years old and around the time things were falling apart she would say How you can. She meant How can you do this or that? How can you put kitty food into the bowel? How can you hold a toothbrush? How can you cut an apple, etc.? It was a perfect song title and I wanted to add those words into the song.
It was so great to see you at Front Row Paul Fest. The energy I hear on the album, transmits doubly in person! What was in like to be on a such a formidable bill for such an awesome guy?
First of all. Thank you and I/we appreciate that. We love performing. Oh gosh, what an absolute honor to play for FRP fest. I have been playing around town for enough years to know the supportive human FRP was. I had met him and seen him over the years. It is people like FRP, people like you, people like Langen. Those likeminded people and connections are “it” “success”, to me. I can’t speak for all musicians. I know it means the world to me and it is not lost on me when people/friends come out to shows and support Velahsa. FRP was that person for so many bands. He went to so many shows, he cheered on so many bands. He would show up and rock out, support them, share a short moment in time and forget about the world. Celebrating him is what music is all about to me. The connections, the healing. Honoring him and hopefully showing his family some love. That’s the deal. It was a special moment and memory I will hold close forever. Meeting Lori Fucking Barbero and her saying “Thanks and that was just Velahsa” or something to that affect, was massive to me!
What drives the new album? The sound is classic driving, short-song punk, which I love. The lyrics are teenage angst with a few years of wisdom irony.
I Dare You. With the title, I was saying. I dare you to try to ruin my life. I can handle it. You can’t break me. I WILL make it through this snippet in time, I will make it through this divorce and you won’t ruin me. The heart drawing is a picture Harper drew when she was a toddler. It was important to use that as a representation. The songs were written shortly before and going through that horrible divorce AND staying sober. I was venting, expressing, fighting to make it through, save custody of my child, save my house, not drink. Definitely a lot of angst and anger. It was my expression and my healthy way to the other side of it. I made it. I was quietly in my basement with my red electric guitar unplugged writing, writing, writing.
In terms of the energy of I dare you. There were a lot of heavy emotional life changing feelings going on at that time. I needed to scream and play loud in order to heal. I always loved the dynamics of Nirvana and Foo Fighters and they have both been influences all along to me as well as the softer stuff like Wilco and Ryan Adams. I like all kinds of styles of music and nowadays I am secure enough to allow them all to translate. The songs still feel special and important every time I play them even as they become more distant life memories.
Please tell us about upcoming shows.
- Thursday, June 5 – Petefest – Duluth show
- Friday, June 6 – Justad Park – St. Louis Park outdoors
- Saturday, June 21 – Dap-a-Doop 11 – My house party
- Thursday, July 31 – Zhora Darling – Minneapolis
- Saturday, August 23 – Angry Irishmen – Ames, IA
Mostly Minnesota 