Vera Sola, aka Danielle Aykroyd, has been making waves in the music business with her moody, dark sound that draws from influences like rock and folk. Vera Sola is a singer-songwriter who is challenging to dismiss thanks to her ethereal vocals and eerie melodies. She has a voice similar to a young Nancy Sinatra but with a twist of her distinctive manner.
The most recent album from Vera Sola, “Shades,” was released last month and has garnered positive reviews from critics and listeners. With incredibly intimate and introspective lyrics, the record demonstrates Vera’s artistic talent. The songs on the record explore the artist’s innermost thoughts as they deal with topics like personal apocalypse and the suppression of creativity.
In an interview with Vera Sola, she spoke candidly about the ideas that inspired her most recent album and the artistic process behind its creation. She also discussed her distinctive singing style and passion for the autoharp, a defining instrument in many of her songs. She also talked about the music video she co-edited and directed for the song “The Colony” and revealed her plans.
Vera Sola is an artist who deserves attention because she possesses such talent and passion for her work. We’ll explore this phantasmic vocalist’s inspirations, creative process, and plans in this piece as we delve further into her mind.
Inspiration for the Album
Vera Sola’s most recent album Shades is the product of 27 years of creative restraint and a personal apocalypse. A string of terrible incidents convinced the musician that there would be no harm in opening the door and allowing the sound out after she had always been too shy to compose her songs outside her bathroom’s privacy.
Vera Sola reserved time at a friend’s studio in St. Louis to invite other people to help her create a record that, at that moment, would never be heard by anyone else. When she got there, though, she understood that she wished to go it alone. The guys at Native Sound Recordings helped the album develop into an epic horror from that point on by placing mics on her neuroses.
Vocal Aesthetic and Use of Autoharp
Her distinctive vibrato, which she describes as a kind of fluttering, CD skipping that she can do with her voice, makes Vera Sola’s singing style unique. Star Wars fans might be intrigued that she learned this in the recording studio. Someone once enquired as to whether Chewbacca was her singing teacher.
Regarding the autoharp she plays, Vera Sola bought it from a pawn store in 2014 for about $50. Since then, she has composed quite a few songs on it. She enjoyed working to make it ring darker and more resonant, more organ-like. In her opinion, the instrument can be as straightforward or complicated as the player desires, making it particularly difficult and extraordinary.
Self-Directed Video for “The Colony”
The “The Colony” music video for Vera Sola was co-edited and self-directed by Vera Sola in association with Damon James Duke, the project’s director of photography. When it was time to create the video, she contacted several prospective collaborators but was alternately offended and amused by the costs she was given for its completion.
Finding Damon was a deus ex machina circumstance. They filmed the video in just a little more than a day, in temperatures that reached 101 degrees in the shade and were dry heat. Damon operated three cameras and a drone while Vera Sola sewn her dress, blocked shots, set up the scenes, scaled trees and railroad tracks, and carried her body over sand made of crushed bone. With the aid of a few neighbors who kindly loaned their homes and a parasol, the two of them managed to complete the task.
Future plans for Vera Sola
Aykroyd revealed that she has a west coast tour with her band planned from 12/12–12/18 when asked about her plans for the following complete moon cycle. She intends to take a break after that, which she admits is lovely and incredibly nerve-wracking. Since she has been so occupied for so long, Aykroyd has hardly had a chance to breathe, and she is not skilled at doing so. However, she intends to use the opportunity to take care of herself, visits friends she has missed, and write and creates more music.
Aykroyd said, “more of all of it.” in response to the question of what to anticipate from her soon. She seems to be following her love of music and self-expression with a ton of ideas and plans.
In conclusion, Danielle Aykroyd, better known by her stage name Vera Sola, is a gifted musician, dark poet, and phantasm singer who has discovered her voice after years of being silenced by her artistic side. A collection of short stories and her debut album, Shades, reflect her own apocalypse and are examples of her unadulterated self-expression. Aykroyd’s music is haunting, trance-like, and reminiscent of a young, moody Nancy Sinatra, thanks to her gothic aesthetic, which also transfers into her style.
Aykroyd’s distinctive vocal style includes a signature vibrato that she perfected in the recording studio and a voice-acting ability that resembles Disc skipping. She champions expressing one’s pure authenticity without resorting to deliberate imitation and doing so with self-assurance.
Aykroyd, who gained notoriety for playing the autoharp, began playing the instrument in 2014 and worked to make it sound more organ-like by resonating darker and resonant. It’s a beautiful instrument that can be learned quickly or more challengingly depending on the player’s preferences, making it an excellent option for amateur and professional musicians.
Aykroyd’s self-directed and co-edited music video for “The Colony” is evidence of her imagination and drive to realize her goals. The film, produced in the Californian town of Bombay Beach, is an impressive display of Aykroyd’s skills as an artist and a commentary on the destructive effects of human activity.
We can’t wait to hear what Danielle Aykroyd, alias Vera Sola, has in store for us next. She is a rising star in the music industry, and we can’t wait to hear more of it when it comes out soon.
Keep up with Danielle Aykroyd and connect with her on Instagram, here.
