Getting to Know… Ventures | Interview 🎤

In the 411^th Q&A in our Getting to Know… series, we get the inside scoop from Manchester-based metalcore band, Ventures.

“We like throwing energetic curveballs.” Awesome, Ventures, specifically, Ollie May (vocals) who responded to our first burning question.  Richard Taylor (guitar) provides further insight into the Manchester-based metalcore band, asserting, “We formed out on a whim from me missing playing music with friends.” Sounds like a perfect reason to form a band! Ollie, Richard, and Jordan Etches (bass) give us the inside scoop on the band’s genesis, goals, musical influences, and current, and future musical endeavors. So, without further ado, let’s jump right into Getting to Know…Ventures: Interview No. 411!

For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes Ventures distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

Ollie May: Unpredictability! We like throwing energetic curveballs, we all move. Even those familiar to us don’t know what we are gonna throw out next.

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Ventures form, and what were some of your goals or visions early on?

Richard Taylor: We formed out on a whim from me missing playing music with friends. Me and our original vocalist, Dan Donovan, were on a trip to Amsterdam, and we were discussing how we both missed just playing music, we felt we’d done the whole “let’s try and become famous” and now we just wanted to do it for the love of it all. The same reasons we all started. We didn’t even plan to do live shows etc.

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

Ventures: Definitely. As stated, we didn’t even expect to do any live shows… We just wanted to write music together but over the first year and a half, we decided we would play the odd local Manchester show. 5+ years later here we are up and down the UK hoping to do more as we continue.

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Whom would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

Jordan Etches: Influences have certainly changed for me. Originally my inspiration and influences came from the music I enjoyed growing up. This was Parkway Drive, Avenged Sevenfold, The Devil Wears Prada, Bring Me The Horizon, and a personal favorite, Haste the Day. For me, I’m influenced now by any song that has that wow factor. If a song makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, then that’s something special. Then, the goal is to break down why that happened and try to get my music to have the same effect on someone else.

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

Ollie: We were on a 5-day tour it was day 3.I was very oversleeping in the back of a car and peeped some cardboard boxes behind a charity shop, so me, Roach, and our mate, Gary slept on some cardboard boxes on a loadout bay. We left a review for them in the morning – it was the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had. I also tend to make friends with geese anywhere we go.

Until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live or your favorite performance?

Jordan: My first NiallFest performance since joining the band. NiallFest is a charity event the band is heavily involved in organizing. Shout out to Richard for all the hard work he does for that). Being on the stage and as you’re playing, hearing the crowd sing your band’s songs back at you for the first time, is always going to be one of the most amazing feelings ever.

Is there anything else the world should know about you that is awesome, cool, or left-of-center? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

Ollie: Well, I speak German, every single one of us is riddled with ADHD, but we somehow are organized enough to make it on stage when we are needed.

Closing out, what is Ventures currently working on, or promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

Ventures: We’ve just released our latest single “Melt With Me” available now on all your favorite platforms to be followed by “Portrait” before we move onto our next stage of music

We also have a few shows coming up in the year if anyone is local and fancies coming to check us out

• June 8th: Twisted Tongue, Whitehaven
• June 28th: The Rutland, Chesterfield
• July 12th: Old Pint Pot, Salford
• July 29th: Aatma, Manchester City Centre
• November 29th: The Rutland, Chesterfield

Thank you so much for sharing and taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.

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Getting to Know… Ventures: Interview No. 411 [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Ventures; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]