The frontman of legendary indie-rockers The Veils says after more than two decades of performing live, he's finally getting used to being in front of an audience.
Finn Andrews is delighting his army of fans across the country by reuniting his band to tour their highly-acclaimed second album.
Despite his successful career in music, the concept of performing appears to have only recently started to make sense.
"It's like the absence of applause would make you feel really bad, so getting applause just makes you feel... not bad," he jokes.
Luckily, it seems he's coming around.
"Being on a stage never felt good in the beginning, I always felt scared of it. It's been a process, it's really been a recent thing, that I felt like I'm a little conscious of what I'm doing and I can control it a bit, rather than it being this get up there and this anxiety gets unleashed and I hope for the best that someone's gotten something out of it and move on to the next town," he says.
"It's sort of recently I feel a little more aware of myself and therefore kinda enjoy it - it was always just a bit of a blur in the past."
His evidently artistic nature and mysterious aura has kept The Veils fans on their toes.
Nux Vomica was the band's second album, yet 15 years later, it's still able to pull crowds at shows around the country.
So, why take this album on tour?
"The whole thing really is just a silly excuse to play live again and revisit this album that has travelled a long way with us and with other people."
The album landed them on the radars of alternative music fans and critics around the world.
It garnered The Veils a following here in Aotearoa too, and the song 'Calliope' was even once used as a 3 News promo song.
Andrews was born in London but moved to Auckland aged 12 to attend Takapuna Grammar School.
Today he's known as something of a godfather of the North Shore indie kids. He was one of the first of the high school's alumni to make it big overseas.
The likes of Gin Wigmore, The Checks and Lorde have followed.
After chasing the dream in the UK, Andrews moved back to New Zealand a couple of years ago.
He says it was tough to watch COVID-19's impact on the music industry with shows cancelled and production crews out of work.
"It's been awful, I have these friends in London, and all over the show that have been having a terrible time," he says.
"It's crazy that I'm in the middle of this tour playing these lovely big theatres full of people having a nice time."
Despite his successful career in music, the concept of performing appears to have only recently started to make sense to Andrews.
"It's like the absence of applause would make you feel really bad, so getting applause just makes you feel... not bad," he jokes.
Luckily, it seems he's coming around.
"Being on a stage never felt good in the beginning, I always felt scared of it, it's been a process, it's really been a recent thing, that I felt like I'm a little conscious of what I'm doing and I can control it a bit, rather than it being this get up there and this anxiety gets unleashed and I hope for the best that someone's gotten something out of it and move on to the next town," he says.
"It's sort of recently I feel a little more aware of myself and therefore kinda enjoy it, it was always just a bit of a blur in the past."
His evidently artistic nature and mysterious aura has kept The Veils fans on their toes.
Nux Vomica was the band's second album, yet 15 years later, it's still able to pull crowds at shows around the country.
So, why take this album on tour?
"The whole thing really is just a silly excuse to play live again and revisit this album that has travelled a long way with us and with other people."
The album landed them on the radars of alternative music fans and critics around the world.
It garnered The Veils a following here in Aotearoa too, and the song 'Calliope' was even once used as a 3 News promo song.
Andrews was born in London but moved to Auckland aged 12 to attend Takapuna Grammar School.
Today he's known as something of a godfather of the North Shore indie kids. He was one of the first of the high school's alumni to make it big overseas.
The likes of Gin Wigmore, The Checks and Lorde have followed.
After chasing the dream in the UK, Andrews moved back to New Zealand a couple of years ago.
He says it was tough to watch COVID-19's impact on the music industry with shows cancelled and production crews out of work.
"It's been awful, I have these friends in London, and all over the show that have been having a terrible time," he says.
"It's crazy that I'm in the middle of this tour playing these lovely big theatres full of people having a nice time."
