The Veer Union

The Veer Union formed in 2004 in Vancouver, British Columbia, when vocalist Crispin Earl and guitarist Eric Schraeder, two longtime friends originally from Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, found themselves living in adjacent rehearsal studios in downtown East Vancouver, having previously pursued music in different bands, with Earl contributing songs to Tommy Lee's solo album and fronting Everything After, while Schraeder had a stint with Forty Foot Echo. The duo soon met lead guitarist James Fiddler and bassist Marc Roots, and the addition of drummer Neil Beaton rounded out the lineup, allowing the group to tour in support of its brash, gravelly-voiced hard rock. Initially recording as Veer, they self-released their 2006 debut, Time to Break the Spell. The band's breakthrough came two years later when an offer from Universal Records appeared, and the band, now called the Veer Union, made its major-label debut with Against the Grain in April 2009. The album's lead single, "Seasons," became a defining hit, peaking at number 10 on the Active Rock chart in both the US and Canada, accompanied by a music video and extensive radio play. The song's popularity extended well beyond rock radio, as it became the theme song for the 2009 Stanley Cup winners, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and was also featured in all Major League Baseball postseason telecasts, as well as the NFL, NASCAR, ESPN, WWE, NHL and more. Despite this momentum, in spite of the album's decent commercial and chart success, the band was eventually dropped from Universal. Undeterred by the setback, the Veer Union released their second album, the heavier and darker Divide the Blackened Sky, via indie label Rocket Science Ventures in the spring of 2012, and hit the road hard, playing radio festivals and co-headlining dates with My Darkest Days, Cavo, Smile Empty Soul and 12 Stones. The band also shared stages over the years with acts like Staind, Hinder, Theory of A Deadman, Korn, Breaking Benjamin, Framing Hanley, and 30 Seconds to Mars. The lineup proved fluid in the years that followed: prior to their next release, bassist Marc Roots and guitarist James Fiddler both departed, and following the release of 2013's Life Support, Pt. 1 EP, the lineup continued to shuffle, and by the time they'd finished their next LP, Schraeder was gone as well, leaving Earl the sole helmsman. After a three-year break between releases, Earl introduced an all-new lineup for 2016's Decade, an album that also served to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the band's debut. With Crispin Earl remaining the band's constant creative force, The Veer Union has continued recording and touring into the current era, releasing albums such as 2022's Manifestations and 2024's Welcome to Dystopia, both made with a relatively stable lineup, and most recently returning in 2026 with their seventh proper studio album, Reinvention. Over their two-decade run, the band has built an impressive legacy, having sold over 150,000 albums, racked up more than 200 million streams worldwide, and landed 12 songs in the Billboard Rock Radio Top 40. That staying power, built on hard touring and a devoted fanbase, has cemented The Veer Union's reputation as one of Canada's enduring hard rock exports.