EastScene

Check out an interview with Fueled By Ramen’s newest addition VersaEmerge, a young and talented band that doesn’t sound like anything you have heard before. Also catch them on tour right now with We The Kings! If they are not coming to your area, don’t worry! They will be opening for Craig Owens after that too!

EastScene: First of all, how did you guys come up with a name as unique as VersaEmerge?
Sierra: They decided to go with the name because they made up there very own meaning for it and it’s not a name your ears are used to hearing, so it automatically catches your attention.

EastScene: Secondly, what exactly does the name mean?
Sierra:  Versa comes from vice versa and Emerge is to rise, it describes the way the band was changing into something new but in full force. It means something different to all of us. It’s made up so it can be anything to anybody, whatever your mind pictures first when you hear it.

EastScene: How many times did the line up change until we get the VersaEmerge we listen to now?
Sierra: There has been two member changes since I came into the band. Jerry (guitar) is our latest addition, he was also our missing link!

EastScene: How did you guys land with Fueled By Ramen, what was the story of getting signed?
Sierra:  That’s a good question! There never really is a story to tell how it all came about, things just seem to fall into place. We worked our asses off and got somewhere and this is only the beginning.

EastScene: With bands like We The Kings, There For Tomorrow and Hey Monday also from Florida, do you guys think it helped getting noticed by labels?
Sierra:  I don’t know, maybe. The music world is very small so I wouldn’t doubt it but I feel we generated a decent buzz to get labels to notice us on our own rather then them saying, “A band from Florida! lets sign em!”.

EastScene: Did Anthony and Blake expect to have a girl audition for the band?
Sierra:  They weren’t surprised when chicks sent in auditions, they were surprised when they actually chose a chick.

EastScene: What was the moment when you guys decided making music is what you guys really want to do?
Sierra:  Well I didn’t even know the boys when they decided its what they wanted to do, but for me, I was watching tour videos of some of my favorite bands at the time and it hit me so hard that this is what I wanted and needed to do. There was absolutely nothing else that would make me happier then touring the world with an amazing band.

EastScene: Do people look at you guys differently (or expect something else) when they realize you guys have a female vocalist?
Sierra:  Yes probably. People always seemed to be a little surprised after they see a show so hopefully we proved them wrong or right of something they had in mind.

EastScene: Your music reminds me of medieval time or something that is NOT in current time, where does the inspiration come from, musically and lyrically?
Sierra:  Blake has been listening to a lot of orchestral scores lately and we also feel that older music is just so real and truly talented, so we listen to it to refresh our minds. We watch movies often and we are intrigued that the music/soundtrack in a movie is what really drives your emotion, so we try to do use the same effect with our music, we want you to picture some type of scene when you listen to the intro and then create your own feel for the rest of the tracks as you go.

EastScene: How does touring with different genre bands affect you guys?
Sierra:  If anything it affects us in a good way. When you tour with more harder underground bands, you’re dealing with a different crowd then if you were touring with more of a mainstream poppy band. So we really experienced the best of both worlds.

EastScene: How did you guys get the opportunity to open for Craig Owens?
Sierra:  We actually met Craig when he came out to a show in Tampa, FL. Barely anyone was there, it was just chill but he really dug our music and we kept in touch with him. We heard about his upcoming tour and found out that we were one of the bands he was thinking about taking out and well he chose to take us and we are stoked. I remember spending the last bit of my allowance for a ticket to the Chiodos and From First To Last show about three years ago haha.

EastScene: Other than standard MySpace, Purevolume and a YouTube channel sites, you guys also have a Flickr for awhile now, what makes you guys started the Flickr account?
Sierra:  We started a Flickr because it’s easy to send a picture straight from your mobile. I literally send three pictures to our Flickr everyday of just random shit, just today I sent in a picture of the “Ceiling van man”. We like the feeling of being close with our fans so it’s just one more thing we can provide for them to check out.

EastScene: How was recording your debut EP under FBR?
Sierra: It was definitely exciting. We were stoked about getting new music out and also about it being released on FBR. We have so much further to go, it’s crazy that this is only the mere beginning.

EastScene: Any idea when the full-length is due?
Sierra: Sometime next year I’m guessing. Plans are always changing so it’s hard to guestimate.

EastScene: What are some of your expectations on the upcoming tours with We The Kings and Craig Owens?
Sierra: I’m not really making expectations, I’m just so ready to spread our music and really rock out for a bunch of people who have never heard us before. I think these tours will really be good for us.