Author: Max Brzezinski
Trevor Reece and Mike Wallace are Triangle scene veterans, the sort of quietly inventive, hard-working and true-blue music lovers that keep scenes vibrant and progressing. Their long-running garage-cum-Velvets outfit Drag Sounds put out a fine LP (SUDDEN COMFORT) on New York indie Aloe Music. As a live group, Drag Sounds were a loud and dynamic machine guaranteed to pack a hard and loud punch.
Their new band with Casey Proctor and Reed Benjamin, Verity Den, is today's profiled group. Their music marks a departure from the Drag Sounds template. While the heaviness laid down by Wallace and Reece remains foundational, the collaboration with Pacific Northwest transplant Proctor has coincided with a shift in the direction of psych and shoegaze, with slight touches of droney improv added for good measure. With Proctor taking up the majority of vocal duties, the result's a fascinating new contribution to our state's aural landscape. At times poppier and hookier than Drag Sounds, at moments Verity Den can also sound like the heaviest prime Sonic Youth. The band's S/T LP on Amish Records from last year was one of the finest rock records put out in the state; their recent single for that LP's track "Washer Dryer" features fuzzed-out-but-calming outtake "Household Changes," with Reece manning lead vocals.
As they state in the interview below, Verity Den has a "new album in the works," which should give all music fans in North Carolina cause to celebrate. Casey was also kind enough to grace us with a NC-focused playlist ranging from funkers Brief Encounter to underground legends Metal Flake Mother. Listen HERE!
Capsule summary-style, describe your band(s) (its members, home, history)
CASEY: Trevor and I originally met at an improv performance on the roof of Attic 506 in 2022. I had moved from Bellingham, WA, in 2018 and after a few years of finding my bearings and navigating Covid times I was ready to make music with other people again. I reached out to Trevor shortly after we met/performed together in Chapel Hill and asked if I could join his and Mike’s band Drag Sounds. They said they were ready for a new chapter, and suggested we start a new project. After we recorded the first Verity Den songs we made a short run of cassettes and began considering playing shows…so we asked Reed if he wanted to join in on drums. Amish Records released the cassette songs on vinyl in March 2024, and we’ve been playing shows and writing together since then.
MIKE: This band is an interesting mix of people, all from different places, even if most of those places are in NC, but ended up crossing paths how life and life in music carries you. Trevor and I have been playing in bands for almost 15 years at this point, and I’ve known Reed for closer to 20, we met through working at different college radio stations back in those years. Casey is from Washington, and has been playing forever as well and I think we all share similarities and synchronicities, something about music being the universal language, where you can speak it like childhood friends even if you’ve just met. Of course we’ve all had our own formative experiences and our approaches vary at times, which I see as a strength of the group. There’s place as in location and place as like an idea, and I’ve long been skeptical of the latter, but as I get older I find I’m less of a skeptic about some things. All of us met here and started making stuff here, our lives could have gone a million different other ways. I think finding music and then finding a community of like-minded freaks and weirdos and outsiders was probably huge for each of us, and that continues to happen in new ways and with new people if you let it. If place does mean something, I guess this would be the place.
Most slept-on, underrated North Carolina artist?
MIKE: That’s a tough one. I bet we all can think of a half dozen incredible artists or bands that no one has ever heard of and whose recordings are near or fully impossible to find, if any exist. Maybe too it’s that word underrated, y’know underrated by who (or whom??)? It’s a fair question, I think NC, for how long it’s been punching above its weight in terms of musical talent produced, is not necessarily known as a music state or there’s no like iconic music town. That’s probably for the best, the music industry is mostly awful and somehow keeps getting worse, it doesn’t serve artists or anyone who loves and wants to support music. More money is usually better than less, but I can understand why plenty of really great artists/groups more or less do their own thing outside of the mainstem of the industry, and that more or less relegates them to slept-on or underrated status, just as well. Success in music for most of the people I know is just the ability to keep playing it and making it.
A special mention here just because the entire world deserves to hear her voice and music, would be my dear friend Reese McHenry, who passed away at the end of last year. A generational vocalist and songwriter, her grit, kindness, courage, hilarity and power touched everyone who ever came in contact with her or saw her play. The Reese flag should be raised high and kept there forever.
Some slept-on personal NC favorites of the CD/R era not on streaming:
Health - Demo - You can find “Where You From?” out there, but this one was only ever on cd-r as far as I know. It’s a slower, more chill version of the band, but the songs are beautiful and heartbreaking, lots of space.
I’ll Think About It - Demo - Only 5 songs, this was an acoustic duo from Greensboro, parlor guitars in the tiny college apartment living room after bong hits style folk-adjacent, but some truly stunning songs that I still think about today.
Sugarsmack - Tank Top City - One of many Sire Records releases at that time that didn’t get their due. I think this record is incredible and still sounds great, no one at the time really seemed to get it. Hope Nicholls is a legend and someone who doesn’t get talked about enough.
Calabi Yau - Ipso Factor IO Lipso - I’m not sure the exact lineage or circumstances of this release but it’s well worth seeking out, as are all their records. A totally singular group, hard to wrap your brain around anyone creating this music much less how three people could all be playing totally different things and it sounds like this. Bo, Davey and Robin all have long and storied discographies in other groups and solo, and the Yauhaus was a crucial nexus for many years.
Basalt - treble - One of a multitude of Nicky Trimiar projects, this one a duo with Tracy Spry. Nicky is usually the best part of whatever she’s in and I love her voice and approach.
The Finks - More Songs About Robots and Black Things - original and strange but also total angular groovers, pick any member from any era of this band and find a deep well of other music and art and cultural contribution
Some contemporary NC favorites with 2024 release::
Dunums, De()t, Little Chair/Tractor Beam, Real Companion, Ravine
Has North Carolina been a good place to be a musician?
CASEY: Compared to the PNW it has been a much better place for me as a musician. Not that it is impossible back home, but I think there are more musicians here, and the major cities are closer together….makes it much easier to tour and make connections. I came from a very isolated place that had its own creative ecosystem, but it was small and difficult to break out of. That totally works for a lot of people, but here it’s easier to decide how far you want to reach.
MIKE: Overall I’d say so, there’s just enough infrastructure in terms of venues, media, resources, so you can go play or go out and meet people and other people will come through, but it’s not so saturated where there’s no space for new things or places that have too rigid of identities. Kind of depends on what one wants out of it, but there’s an advantage to being able to play 8–10 different cities with their own communities and goings-on and it’s mostly all under 3-4 hours, depending. I’ve always advocated people just do 3, 4, 5 shows in NC and keep the drives short, it’s totally doable and i think worthwhile for a band that’s booking their own shows, at that level. Not having a Nashville or LA-style music industry locus is an advantage. Even the larger cities in the state you’d run out of places to play if you want to do it a lot so there’s a natural impetus to travel to other towns, even stronger in smaller places.
What would make it better?
CASEY: A more reasonable wage to cost of living ratio.
MIKE: Some sort of non-means tested or not overly restrictive institutional support for not only artists but also local media be it print or radio, etc. Publicly available resources, whether equipment or learning, space to rehearse. More venues that aren’t bars or reliant on alcohol sales to stay afloat. More house and backyard and basement shows. Most of the challenges of creating the conditions or maintaining infrastructure for music are related to market forces, cost of living, cost of real estate, cost of and lack of transportation, cost of and lack of healthcare, noise ordinances, HOAs. Less internet, less phone. Meditation, breathing.
When did you know you wanted to be a musician?
CASEY: I started playing along, by ear, with Cyndi Lauper on my toy piano when I was two and half…as my mother has told me, so I guess I came out that way. I had my first “band” with my cousin when I was 11.
Technique, feeling, and concept — what's the relation to you as a musician? As a listener?
CASEY: Feeling is always the most important thing. Technique and concept are means to that end. There’s a lot I had to unlearn from being classically trained on piano and vocals in order to put feeling first. I think it’s a good foundation to have though, to be able to use those tools as much as you need, but totally ignore them when it doesn’t feel right.
MIKE: It’s all important, but all the same thing. Technique in service of feeling, concept informs technique, technique builds concept, concept comes from feeling. Feeling is all.
Does humor have a place in your music?
CASEY: The lyrics I write are usually biting and sarcastic…but also sincere. So yah, lots of dark humor.
MIKE: Yes - laughing through the tears.
Is your music political?
CASEY: I think we’re all pretty discouraged about how the powers that be run things and that absolutely shows up in our songs. The act of choosing to create art - especially art that doesn’t make much or any money - is political simply because it exists outside of the capitalist structure that the economy is based on and that our political system is controlled by.
Do you care about music critics and what they write?
CASEY: Compared to 20, even 10 years ago music journalism has changed a ton. It seems like these days music writers/”critics” only write about bands they like, and so most reviews are positive. I guess not being written about is the new bad review. I do think it is an important part of the ecosystem…and it is really amazing when a writer can pick up on the subtle things a band is trying to convey.
MIKE: Not especially. I don’t begrudge anyone making a living writing about music, and there’s plenty to write about that I do find interesting, especially with history and process and tunings and gear and philosophy and a true curiosity, but it’s hard to take seriously sometimes when someone wants to complain about a cabinet or a table and they’ve never held a hammer or operated a saw in their life.
Do you theme and conceptualize projects beforehand or do you prefer spontaneous creation?
CASEY: In this band I think it works best for us to be spontaneous. Everything we do…even the mixing is mostly instinctual, not much premeditation in the writing process. The only real intention or concept is to be true to ourselves, whatever that might mean.
What's the relation between electronic and mechanical/acoustic instruments in your work?
CASEY: It’s all in there, whatever feels right. Nothing is off the table... it’s all an experiment.
What do you think of the contemporary state of music in NC and in general? Moving forward, stuck, or declining?
MIKE: Hard to say, time is certainly moving forward. There is an astounding depth of music history and talent and people working really hard at different levels and in various ways to support and facilitate music in the state currently and I think that’s pretty much always been the case, but there are serious challenges. Venues are being squeezed, there’s less local independent media, housing is a constant issue. List goes on. The internet and social media has changed the landscape entirely. Covid also did a number on everyone and everything. There’s a connective tissue that exists between older and younger people, where someone growing up has their mind blown by a band or person a little older and then goes on to do their own thing that blows someone else’s mind who’s coming up, and that’s also how like ethos and values and obscure records are shared, you learn the rules of the road from the people who were there before. Because of this huge societal break that happened, there’s a generation of people who didn’t exactly have that experience, at least in-person, and so some of those connections maybe didn’t get made at a formative time. Not to say like there’s this like a right or wrong way that cultural knowledge gets transmitted or like “it was so much better before”, there’s a ton of great music and young people are doing and will continue to push culture and make things not made before, but this is an age of real isolation, made possible through technology and accelerated by the pandemic. It’s something I do think we have to try to get away from as difficult as it is and how dependent we all are on the internet and social media. Those who control the platforms and technology would convince us there’s some new or better way to be people or connect, and there’s not, it’s still about showing up and physical, unmediated, collective experience. I’m really not trying to romanticize the past or something, I’m as enthralled and addicted as anyone else. But everyone knows when something feels human, when connection is deep and real and has soul. That’s what we have to embrace, protect and make the time and space for in our lives and the people around us.
Hopes and schemes for 2025 and beyond?
CASEY: We have a new record in the works…more news on that when we have it.