Verity Den

***Verity Den is comprised of Carrboro-via-Bellingham sound engineer and songwriter Casey Proctor (Harusplex Palace, Holy Sons) with Trevor Reece and Mike Wallace. All spent considerable time in their respective and shared DIY-music communities before converging to form the group in early 2023. Casey and Trevor initially met as members of an ad- hoc improv ensemble performing tape loops, strings, and electronics as part of a multi-disciplinary series hosted on a rooftop in Chapel Hill called Attic 506. Soon after, the three shifted from long-running musical projects to focus on exploring new sonic territories together. The band operates in an ever-evolving dynamic of group improvisation and studio experimentation, capturing moments of coarse circuit completion and bringing to fruition long-gestating ideas and songs. The sound is raw and largely unadorned, transmitting both truth and wildness.

Working from a dedicated studio space in Carrboro, NC, songs came together quickly for the group’s debut self- titled album. Engineered and mixed at home by Casey, the LP presents a guitar music refracted through clamor and tenderness, static and hiss, drum machine and synth. The lyrics survey themes of existential exhaustion and impressionistic reflections, all bound with persistent hooks and equally acidic edges. A sense of deep and ego-less collaboration runs through their process, as instruments are exchanged, vocal duties are shared and drum machines meld with live drum kits. The live unit is supplemented with an expanding cast of friends and rippers, that presents the music at its gentlest and most cacophonous.