Henry Verus
As part of our Artists To Watch list, we’ve conducted interviews with the ten artists featured in our 2021 Spring/Summer edition. Check out our Q&A with Henry Verus below and click here to check out the full list.
With an awing determination to put forth and give his complete authentic self to the world, Henry Verus’ careful approach to his craft has propelled him to stand out as an exciting new act. The 17-year old singer/songwriter/producer is now just shy of a year since writing and releasing “Alone!,” his first single that garnered the attention of thousands of listeners through brutally honest lyricism, a mesmerizing melody, and comforting acoustics.
For Henry, it’s all about authenticity, which is why his music is noticeably visceral as the subjects of his songs are able to recount specific emotions and feelings relating to love, lust, and introspective realizations. Only a few months into 2021 and Henry feels confident that this is his year. In the coming weeks, he plans to drop a new single, mentioning it’s one he believes will be received well, while also revealing intentions of releasing a cohesive project around summertime. Between wrapping up his last year of high school, the strides he’s been making with his music, his interests in fashion and even starting his own collective, Henry’s surely got a lot going on. For now, it’s all about taking in the moment and being present for the upcoming milestones he’s on track to hit in the coming months.
What made you decide making music was something you wanted to explore and start doing?
It [happened] more so gradually, as I found myself becoming so lost within [music], it was something that became inevitable over time. It's never like I even decided to throw myself into this. Over time I became fascinated and enamored with all of the little intricacies of the business side of things and the musical side of things. I've been in choir classes my whole life, and I understand music theory to a decent extent, but in terms of writing my own stuff, I've only been writing since April. I love learning about things that I'm genuinely interested in. If it's something that I'm not interested in, I literally don't give a fuck at all. But if it's something that I'm interested in, even in the slightest bit, I'm extremely obsessive. That's why relationships with me typically don't work out well, I will get extremely attached, and it's no different with inanimate things. Music is so dynamic —it's in motion all of the time—there are so many different parts and there are so many little tunnels that you could go with. Last spring, 10 or 11 months ago, the first song I ever wrote was “Alone.” That was a very genuine song, and it did well locally and it got a lot of positive response, but it was, for me, just the obsession of it all. Even if I wasn't getting that, I would still put myself in a position where I know I would eventually get there. My obsession will just lead me to where I can never put myself in a position to fail, I won't allow myself to do that.
Are there any subjects or other emotions that you have an itch to explore more or to be transparent about in your music?
Absolutely. I have a fucked up mind and there's a lot of stuff going on in my brain that's hard for me to talk about in a song, not because it's a vulnerable topic and I'm not OK with opening up, but more so because I haven't learned yet how to write about it. I'm so new to everything and I don't know how to write about it in a way that I would respect myself for writing about it. I've been in intensive therapy for six months. I was in a psych ward in November and there's so much shit that I've seen that I want to talk about and that I'm getting ready to talk about. Just being able to save kids’ lives the same way X and Frank Ocean have been able to do for me in the sense of writing about mental health and writing about shit where I'm feeling myself —R&B type-stuff—like on Drake's vent tracks. I was an athlete growing up, that's all that I listened to. It's important to not do everything, dabble in all of these topics at once, because that's not what I'm feeling right now. For example, right now, I'll probably write four or five songs in the same general context or conceptually, because that's what's most authentic to me.
I'd love to hear a little bit more about your writing process.
It's a long process. I'm not the type of guy that can make 50 songs a night. It takes me a long time to write a song, mostly because I'm so critical of myself, and want things to be perfect. When I put out something I want it to be my best work. Sometimes that means I could spend an hour on one vocal take and I could do like 50 vocal takes for one bar just because I wanted to get it perfect. I can never just get a beat, then spit and sing over it, and be content with it. I feel so separated from the idea that I'm trying to convey. I like it when I put the beat or the loops, and as I'm recording, I change it up, do different shit with the vocals, engineering my own stuff. I love to engineer my own stuff because I'm a control freak in a sense. I want my shit to sound the way I want it to sound. But in the same sense, that's the exact things that I want to work on. I find it very hard to write songs with other people or trust people with engineering my stuff because it's my artwork that I'm very particular about. That's the thing that I want to get more polished with. I think it also comes down to just finding people that I am very creatively in tune with and that that can kind of see things the way that I see them at least in an introspective way and at least feel some of the things that I feel so they could actually genuinely write about it and not just be trying to run things up with other things
What does 2021 look like for Henry Verus?
I'm finna go crazy. In the next couple of weeks, there's going to be a new release, and it's one that I have a lot of faith in. And some time by the summer, a project. I want to get something cohesive out there for people, but I don't want to just put together a bunch of singles and call it a project. But this is where people are going to hear about me, and this is where the people are going to understand the things that I'm going to do. Last summer was so weird with COVID, and I had one song out, but this summer, I'm very confident in what I'm going to be able to do with fashion, with the music and with the people around me that I have, and the relationships that I'm starting to form. Everything is in a spot right now where I'm I'm ready to go.