The Veldt

A soul-powered rock band on the heavier end of the shoegaze spectrum, the Veldt are dream pop at their core yet just as known for driving riffs and stirring vocals. Led by Daniel and Danny Chavis, identical twin brothers who proudly cited the likes of Echo & the Bunnymen and Public Enemy as inspirations in early interviews, the Veldt were misunderstood from their late-'80s beginning. They arrived as outliers between waves of underground bands from their native North Carolina, sharing little in common with the likes of the dB's, Let's Active, Superchunk, and Archers of Loaf. Established in 1986, the band didn't make their recorded debut until six years later with the Marigolds EP, and in 1994 released their first album, Afrodisiac. That they had key single "Soul in Jar" remixed by the Jesus and Mary Chain and Diamond D, pioneers in their respective fields of noise-pop and boom-bap hip-hop, explained much about their categorically evasive if natural approach to sound. Active in fits and starts since the mid-'90s, the Veldt evolved into Apollo Heights in the early 2000s. Entropy Is the Mainline to God marked the studio return of the Veldt in 2022. The next year, they seized control of a shelved album produced by Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, referencing its year of recording with the title Illuminated 1989. The Veldt were formed in 1986 by Raleigh, North Carolina natives Daniel Chavis (vocals, guitars) and Danny Chavis (guitars), identical twin brothers who had been playing in different bands. Marvin Levi (drums) and Joseph Hue Boyle (bass) joined later. The quartet's mix of styles was not warmly received in the frat-party circuit, but major-label Capitol signed them, and an album was recorded with Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie as producer. A personnel shakeup at the major label left the Veldt with a different and unsympathetic A&R representative, as well as an unreleased album and subsequent conflict with manager Jay Faires. A relatively fruitful deal was struck with Polygram. Minus Boyle, the band recorded the Marigolds EP with Moose's Lincoln Fong, who produced the material and also performed the basslines. The set, highlighted by the driving "CCCP," was issued in 1992 on Stardog, a subsidiary Polygram had established for Mother Love Bone. Two years later, with Dave Burris as bassist and Ray Shulman (A.R. Kane, the Sugarcubes) as producer, the Veldt moved to Mercury and issued Afrodisiac. A number of the tracks, "Soul in a Jar" included, had "alternative radio hit" written all over them, but nothing translated beyond a fervent following of open-minded listeners. Outside the major-label system, the Veldt released an EP of demos, Universe Boat, in 1996. At some point, Danny Chavis and Burris departed and were replaced by Sam Clowney and Des White, musicians who were present on Love at First Hate, an album issued quietly on the band's End of World label in 1998. Several years later, the Chavis brothers, who had relocated to New York City, anchored Apollo Heights but eventually reactivated the Veldt with Frank Olson (guitars) and Apollo Heights partner Hayato Nakao (bass, programming). The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur: The Drake Equation, the first Veldt release in almost 20 years, appeared in 2016. Its finale was produced by Rudy Tambala, whose A.R. Kane were among the band's inspirations and kindred spirits. Thanks to the Moth and Areanna Rose, another EP, followed in 2017 with two songs produced by Robin Guthrie and another remixed by Tambala. In 2022, following a couple other short-form releases, the Veldt issued Entropy Is the Mainline to God, a collection of heady rockers that seamlessly incorporated an update of the Impressions' "Check Out Your Mind." Illuminated 1989, the shelved recording intended as the band's first album, was released the next year with remastering from Guthrie.
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