Hey fans of Christian hardcore! I hope everyone is happy, healthy, and well. I wanted to introduce you to a band that is keeping up with the hardcore roots while spreading the word of Christ. If you have never heard of Venia, then you have been missing out. This hard working 5 piece out of Minneapolis, Minnesota is putting some brutal hardcore out there. These are some really talented guys with a great message, singing topics such as the evils of abortion to false Christian teachings, they will smack you right in the face with a dose of Christ’s teachings. Venia recently released their first full length album called “Convictions.” You can get a sample of their sound on their Myspace page, but I really suggest you pick up the album. For fans of Bloody Sunday, Jesus Wept, who like a little bit of metal injected into their hardcore, you will not be disappointed.
Band Name: Venia
Music Style: Hardcore
Location (Home Base): Minneapolis, MN
Q: What is the significance of the name Venia? (I think it means grace and forgiveness in Latin correct?)
A: You are correct, Venia means grace in Latin. We picked this name because grace is an important aspect of Christianity. We are saved by the grace of God! This is why we picked the name Venia.
Q: How long have you been playing together?
A: Venia started writing music together at the end of 2006, and after a member change or two, went into the studio and recorded our EP early 2007. Our first show was in January of 2007.
Q: What does everyone do during downtime?
A: Well, right now we are all attending school, so that takes up a majority of our time off, but we are all leaving school behind to make this a full time project as of this summer. Beside school, we spend a lot of time working, and promoting for the band. We spend a significant amount of time on myspace everyday promoting.
Q: Is everyone in the band straight edge?
A: Some of the member of Venia claim the straight edge lifestyle, some do not, however every member of the band lives the lifestyle of abstaining from drugs, alcohol, and premarital sex. The members who do not claim edge do not because they feel claiming to be a Christian is enough, and you should want to live the straight edge lifestyle for the Lord anyhow. We strongly promote living the positive straight edge lifestyle.
Q: What other bands do you compare your sound to?
A: It is hard for me to compare our sound, lol, we don’t really enjoy doing that. I can tell you that we took influence from all aspects of the hardcore scene when writing our full length album. If you listen to all ten tracks you can hear influences from the traditional bands, such as Madball, and the new school artists like Too Pure To Die.
Q: How/Why did you decide as a group to spread the gospel of Christ?
A: We are all followers of Christ. We feel that as a Christian the most important thing in the world is to spread the message of the Lord. If you think about it, it is really all that matters
in the end. (read the book “The One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven”) Since we are all musicians, this is really the best way we can spread the life changing message of Christ.
Q: Many Christians find themselves persecuted for the sake of Christ’s message, as a band, has Venia ever been persecuted or ridiculed for being Christian?
A: Venia has come under heat for being a Christian band before. It is OK though, I mean it can be discouraging at times, but to be honest, if everyone likes what we are doing, we are doing something wrong. We are trying to stir things up, trying to make kids think. We take a lot of heat from some kids in the straight edge community, saying you can not be a Christian and straight edge because “God is a crutch.” I would have to strongly disagree with that statement.
Q: I think the fact that Venia has published all their lyrics and the meanings of their songs on myspace is great, what do you think of bands that call themselves Christian and you cannot understand their lyrics?
A: I am not one to judge, and I do not want to say that Christian bands that do not openly profess their faith are doing wrong. However, I do believe as Christians we are supposed to do everything for Christ, and honor Him with all we do. If you are put in a position where you have the ability to speak about Christ and spread His message, I would wonder why you would not.
Q: Hardcore is generally secular, how has being a Christian hardcore band tested Venia’s faith in Christ?
A: There is always that temptation to become part of the world. God calls us to live in the world, but not to be of it. Sometimes I think we expect life as a Christian to be too easy, being that we are blessed to be living in America where we can profess our faith openly. God says that we will come under heat for our faith, so we expect the heat to
come. However, the thing that has really attracted Venia to the hardcore scene is that the kids really listen to the message. The kids are all about what a band has to say, and we have found a lot of respectful responses from kids who do not hold the same views as us. Its been really encouraging.
Q: Any bands ever refused to play with you upon finding out that you are a Christian hardcore band?
A: I am not sure if there have been bands that have refused to play with us because of our faith. I mean if there has, I did not hear about it, maybe between bands and promoters. We have shared the stage with many secular bands, and so far the bands we have performed with have always shown us respect, even the bands that are spreading the opposite message as us.
Q: Have you ever had people reach out to you after a show to learn more about Christ/God?
A: Yes we have had people reach out to us about Christ. It is always an amazing experience when we reach a kids heart. We have actually had many reach out to us through myspace, even kids from other states, that want to know more about our faith, or are looking for prayer, or just someone to talk about their struggles. We absolutely love those moments.
Q: Do you consider your music a ministry? If so, why?
A: We do consider our music a ministry! In fact that is exactly what it is, and all it is. We do this for God and God alone. This is not for our glory, or to become popular or wealthy, lol, we wouldn’t play hardcore if we were looking for wealth. This is the way we are giving back to His kingdom, and this is His ministry through us. We pray daily for His guidance with our ministry.
Q: Which of your songs do you feel as the most personal message and why?
A: Well all of our songs came from the heart. I wrote the majority of the lyrics, and they all have deep meaning to us. I think “Convictions” is a song where I pretty much opened up myself and exposed my faults to everyone. It is about how I have led so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ astray over my life through so many of my actions and mistakes. I was going through a hard time when I wrote those
lyrics. Murder Is Your Name is also one of our most powerful songs. It is about the slaughter of innocent infants known as abortion. That songs hits home for me because I was blessed to be put up for adoption rather then aborted when my 18 year old mother had me. Abortion makes us all sick, and it’s just looked at as normal…I do not see how anyone can be ok with killing my generation!
Q: What were the most memorable bands that you have played with and why?
A: Playing with Misery Signals was one of the most memorable shows. We were all really into them at the time, and we begged to get on that show for months. It was a blast. We are also really glad we got to share the stage with xLooking Forwardx before they stopped touring.
Q: If Venia could play with any bands of their choice, whom would you tour with?
A: If we could tour with any band right now we would tour with Sleeping Giant! Those guys have the biggest hearts for Christ, and watching them live is just insane. You can feel God working through them at every moment, its not a hardcore show with them, it is a worship service!
Q: Venia has a pretty busy schedule for shows, any plans for a national tour?
A: We have plans of touring forever! lol. We just decided to make this a full time band, so we are working on getting things set up. This summer it looks like we are doing mainly midwest and east coast, but we plan on covering the entire nation throughout the upcoming year.
Q: If you could give one message to the hardcore scene, what would it be?
A: The hardcore scene is in a very dark place right now. I would just like to say that hardcore music has always been about coming together and being a community. Hatred is taking over, and violence is ruining the scene. I am down for some hard dancing, but fights and the hatred needs to stop. I would love to see the scene come together as one and make a
difference in the lives of many.
Q: How does someone get a hold of Venia for more info or to book you guys?
A: They can contact us through myspace HERE or EMAIL BEN
Venia just released a full length album called Convictions, they also have an EP they put out in 2007 that you can pickup Venia Order Page shipping is free so go pick up your copy and support these guys with their ministry. You won’t be disappointed.
Also, don’t forget to check out the forum for fans of Christian hardcore, ska, punk, and Oi! by clicking on the image below. Go, register, post,
have fun!
*Venia photography provided by Elmakias Photography
