GTKM: Rod "Woolf" Costa and Tina Sanchez of Veiny Hands
With electric beats and bone-chilling rhythms that surely rock a crowd, Veiny Hands know what they're doing. For only being a band for about a year, the post punk band are surely making a name for themselves.
The young band offers an alternative sound with a relaxed, yet charged atmosphere. Originating from St. Petersburg, FL, the band serves strict yet easing guitar riffs with a hazy and illusory vibe. After releasing their Self-Titled album with BUFU Records, the rock quartet is set to begin work on an album later this year.
Veiny Hands performed a small see on January 18 at Gramps Bar in Miami, FL. Veiny Hands were the openers for the Plastic Pinks, a local Miami band, and Boytoy. After their energetic set, I was able to catch up with guitarist and vocalist, Rod "Woolf" Costa and keyboardist, Tina Sanchez.
How long have you guys been doing music?
Rod: Me and the bass player, Jasmine, have been playing music for a while. We’ve been in different bands before together. With this band, we’ve been together for almost a year and a half now. Me and Brie, we formed this band together and it was supposed to be a completely different project but we needed someone to play bass and were like “oh let’s get Jasmine to play with us!”. But together it’s been about a year and a half.
What were the other projects you had?
Rod: We had this one called “S’lectric” . And it was pretty much electronic dance but we didn’t do much with it, just played around Florida. This band started pretty random, we didn’t expect to really take it seriously until we started playing more gigs and then got offered a few shows and now we’re a touring band. We’ve toured twice in the east coast-three weeks each time-and now we’re about to go on another tour in the west coast that’s probably going to be about another three weeks. Which is surprising because I never thought we would get this far. Like Brie? She never played drums before, she just had a drum set laying around and that’s how it started, then we started dating. And then Tina came along after a few shows, and same deal, I bought a keyboard and we were like “Oh! Maybe you should play with us then” and now she's a part of the band for about a year now. She joined right after we went on tour.
How many tours have you guys done? What's your favorite part about touring?
The first tour we did was around February and it was from Tampa to about New York and back. We played about 13 shows. Then the second tour we did back in September, we took the same route but changed it up a little by playing at some places we never have before. We have a third tour coming out soon, still haven't formally announced it yet but this one is mainly in the west coast with some SXSW shows. Then we do some shows in California so the tour is gonna be about three weeks. But I love the touring, it's fun meeting new people. We were lucky enough to play with some really cool bands. Going to different places is definitely one of my favorite things because I didn't travel much before my band.
Who or what influenced you to pursue music as a career?
My personal inspirations have always been Iggy Pop and The Stooges-The Ramones were a big part of my life. I listened to a lot of old sixties and seventies rock. For this band, in particular, The Cramps and La Luz were a great inspiration for us.
Can say anything about your latest EP?
It's coming out, from BUFU Records in Boston. Well, at first we never intended on looking for anything but my friend who started BUFU records came up to us and said that he wanted to release our tape. We recorded everything to tap, we love that we analog recorded. We have a couple of songs out on Soundcloud but we have a couple that are set to release soon. We also have two videos set to release soon as well. And it's all great timing since we are going on tour in March so people will actually get a chance to listen to it before they see us. I'm super stoked.
So Tina, how did you become interested in the band?
I was just talking to my friend Brie and they were saying how they needed someone to play the keyboard and I had just gotten a new one. I was really excited to hang out and get a chance to make music with some friends.
What made you want to pursue music?
I played music when I younger and it just looked like a good time. I wanted a chance to express myself in a way that wasn't just talking. Sometimes just doesn't give it enough props.
Did you have any inspirations growing up?
Hendrix was a huge one, love that guy. A lot of Bowie, because why not?
How has touring been treating you?
Touring has been really fun actually. It's so different from your everyday life. You have to get used to brushing your teeth in a sink that isn't yours and you get used to eating a lot of road food. I definitely didn't know what to expect but after doing it the first time I was much better prepared. One of the best moments we had was when we got lost in Bushwick, New York and we couldn't figure out where we were so we took it as a moment and actually wrote a song about it.
What do you want your fans to take away from your music?
I think it's all just playing the vibe. We're presenting to you what we feel and hopefully you feel it to. And personally, I always feel it from the crowd and that's truly amazing.
Photo taken from Google. Learn more about Veiny Hands by visiting their Facebook and Soundcloud.