Tony Wright is a familiar fixture on the Irish music scene. His time spent in And So I Watch You From Afar introduced his talents but his newfound material, recording under the moniker VerseChorusVerse, sees the Belfast man flying solo for the first time. Wright's debut album is currently in the process of receiving funds via a Pledge Music campaign (more on that here, incidentally) and it will be ready for our ears before the summer is out.

In the meanwhile, VerseChorusVerse will play the entertainment.ie curated Upstairs at Whelan's stage as part of the Meteor Camden Crawl and we caught up with him for a pre-gig chat.

How is the PledgeMusic campaign going at the moment?

It's going really well so far! It's my first time doing something like this and it's very exciting. If we can continue at the pace we are doing now that would be great.

It must be quite gratifying that there's been so much in interest in the project.

Exactly. The whole project continues along a vibe of goodness. This is what keeps me going most of the time (laughs).

Is the album mastered at this point or do you still have a few bits and bobs to take care of?

It's finished now, mastered just before Christmas. Now I'm just trying to be as hands on as I possibly can with it. I've just been practicing and trying not get the guys together to play the songs as it's not just me, it's not a singer-songwriter album where I'm sitting playing solo. Phil Wilkinson and Iain (Archer, the producer) were basically the band on my album and Jake Bugg's album. He just finished on Bugg's and had to start mine. Mr Jake Bugg's had a pretty good year so I feel secure with that (laughs). it's an absolute dream to have several friendly faces working with you who are so good. It's actually very unnerving being in the midst of all those great powers.

The album was recorded during a huge change in your life, leaving one band and forming a new project. Is that reflected in the music?

I think it is. I had about fifty tracks. We all sat down and discussed what each song was about and got into the nitty gritty of it. The overriding themes is about hope and no matter how bad it gets you will soldier through. There is definitely a theme running through the album of scary change. At the time I was experiencing big social changes like the loss of friends and changes in the social circles I was in. It seemed like it was practically overnight. I t wasn't but it seemed it. People always say write what you know about so I did.

Was that a therapeutic process?

I tried to keep it open ended for people as much as possible so if you don't know exactly what it was about you can still relate. Just say someone who has lost a friend or is having difficulties in a relationship, I want them to listen to the album and relate to it too.

People will always find their relevant parallels.

Exactly. They will see it in their own colours.

Do you have a ballpark date when you hope it'll be released?

Obviously people in the pledge campaign get it first. In July the pledges get it and September will be general release.

This is almost like your second debut album but this time you are centre stage. How does it feel this time around? Is there more of a sense of shared responsibility when part of a band whereas this is all about you?

Yeah it's different to the release of the first one. To me this one sounds more like a band album which is the sound I go for myself. I think with this album it is the most proud I've ever been of anything I've ever done because of how hard it was, how cathartic it was and finally being able to breathe after three years of someone standing on your throat. For the same reason it was the most nerve-wracking. For the first album people already knew about eighty percent of the songs before the album was released because of there was that many live sessions and they appeared on previous EPs whereas with this album if they heard anything they only heard me on the acoustic. So I do hope it surprises them. I had a listening party in Belfast, just some friends and few other people. We basically got together, drank too much wine and went through the album. Everyone said this wasn't what they expected at all. You have a preconception that it's going to be that singer-songwriter stereotype of soft spoken with dreamy lyrics which this isn't. I think this album would be good to drive across America to. I hate using the analogy of a journey but it does work for this album. It has a journeying vibe to it. There is a real driving along theme to it of pushing through bad times. There will be bad days but there will be good days also. In the past I've been associated with those rallying statements but this is more realistic and more achievable.


I have to ask you a bit about the Camden Crawl. Where did you play last year?

I did. It was in The Village with We Are Scientists and Le Galaxie.

Are you looking forward to being on the Upstairs at Whelan's stage this year?

I can't wait. I'll be just back off the tour with Frank Forrest so I'll either be really sharp or really awful.

VerseChorusVerse will play Upstairs at Whelan's as part of the Meteor Camden Crawl Dublin on Sunday 6th May.