Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Ackerman.
Chad, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I started out in the metal scene (As I Lay Dying, Austrian Death Machine, Chapter 14, and Destroy the Runner) and stayed in it until 2010.
After that, I began to focus more on just writing songs and producing music instead of being in a band.
In 2012 I released an album called “The In Between” under the name A VEIL. I wrote 30 songs and chose 8 to be on the release. I also wrote and directed the music video for the single from that album “Tombs”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5kbE9oosIY
In the past I’ve worked with both major and indie labels, and I’ve had a pretty rough experience having a label tell me what to do. With A VEIL I’ve been in charge of everything, expressing my vision, and choosing who I work with.
In 2013, I decided to form A VEIL into a full band instead of a solo project because I love being in a group of talented people and being the captain of that ship. When I’m producing, arranging, and creating good shit with an awesome team, I feel most fulfilled.
Currently A VEIL is Edwin Peraza (bass), Chris Mee (guitar), and myself (vocals/songwriting). We’ve been playing acoustic gigs currently around L.A. while auditioning/searching for a solid drummer. We’re all vegan and great friends, so the search for a drummer has been trying to find someone like minded and that can become part of our family.
We’re working on a full length album right now that will be released hopefully this fall.
It’s been a struggle trying to keep a rock band going in today’s market and doing everything ourselves, but A VEIL is alive, ambitious, and focused. We’ve accepted the challenge by writing and playing music that we love without trying to be something we’re not. We’re real. We are A VEIL.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
When I write a song it’s usually a form of therapy for me. Sometimes is like a diary. Other times it’s a story that I’ve made up from something that I was inspired by. I love film and I look at the songs that I write like short films. I can see myself or a character going through something. Sometimes there’s a happy ending and sometimes there’s not. When I write a song, I usually write a short film to go with it as well.
The song “Tombs” that I wrote in 2012 was inspired by the Leonardo Da Vinci quote “My body will not be a tomb for other creatures.” My lyrics begin from the point of view of animals. “Don’t look now, here come the humans with sweat on their brows and greed in their eyes. What will we do? Run for the hills? The ones that they left for us? Did they leave any of it for us?” The song then changes to my point of view as a human that’s chosen not to eat animals and that recognizes the destruction we’ve caused. I say, “Our bodies will not be tombs for the ones that you consume.” Obviously inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci. Then I go on to say, “There’s a waking now and a consciousness of others that are here. We can still keep them here. We don’t have to feed a consumption fueled by greed. We can still keep them here. I’ll try and keep you here.” This is the only vegan/plant-based song I’ve written so far, but I do plan on writing more in the future because I’m passionate about the well-being of animals. All of us in A VEIL are.
I’ve also written songs about myself leaving religion and the feeling of being brainwashed and betrayed by it. I’ve written songs about coming from a broken home, and I’ve written about a widow losing her husband to war. All of these things make me feel and they make me think, so I hope that they do that for the listener as well.
How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
As an artist, success is being true to yourself and creating what you love. If you can eventually make a living from it, great. If not, at least you were honest and not a copy of a copy. Every artist that I admire says that success is built by failure. Lots of failure. When an artist can learn to fail and learn from that failure, the best is ahead of them.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
A VEIL is on every streaming platform like Spotify, Amazon Music, ITunes, etc. We also have music videos up on YouTube and all of our songs are on YouTube as well. You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook @aveilmusic
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.instagram.com/chadackerman/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aveilmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aveilmusic
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/aveilmusic
Image Credit:
Chad Ackerman, Edwin Peraza, Chris Mee
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
