V.E. are an art-rock band based in Richmond, Virginia.  This cover of The Bee-Gees’ “I Started A Joke” is their first release since 2018.

Songwriters: Barry Alan Gibb and Maurice Ernest Gibb
Bass, guitar, vocals: Lawrence Joseph
Drums: Tricia Kupec
Mixed by Allen Bergendahl at Viking Recording
Mastered by Mark Trewella at Full Circle Mastering
Cover photo by Laura Manchester

I Started A Joke

Promotion Inquiries: megapolispromotion@gmail.com

Something there is that doesn't love a wall.
http://www.mendingwallrecords.com/

We have no cash. We are terrible at marketing. We have no connections. Maybe one day we’ll get our act together.

The cat’s out of the bag… Our new 3 track E.P. is coming out on November 3rd! It’s also up and live on Bandcamp already because, well, I messed up.  Anyway, I’m thrilled to finally have released Five Four Girls. 

We started working on these songs at Rabid Ears Recording back in 2019 with the intention of releasing them as this E.P. From those recording sessions, only the drum tracking for the title track has made it to this release. Tricia and I recorded (or re-recorded) everything else at our own homegrown studio that we refer to as Mushroomtopia. The reason for that nickname is obvious if you’ve ever seen my moss-covered yard after a rainstorm.

"Five Four Girls" and "To Jenny" are songs written as a character.  They aren't me.  They aren't Tricia. But, it was fun to go to such unsavory places for some pretty creepy songs.

"Drone Bomb You" is an attempt to write something of a geo-political song.  And, boy, that is a difficult thing to write.  The song ended up a critique of another songwriter's attempt to write an urgent song about the state of politics. Kyle from Book of Wyrms guests on lead guitar on this song!

I thank Tricia for continuing to work with me and for enthusiastically jumping into the role of production partner. I thank Allen Bergendahl for his ongoing support, friendship, expertise and advice. I thank Kyle Lewis for many hours of shredding. I thank Laura Manchester for embracing my visual ideas and running with them to fantastic results. And thank you to Todd, Ben and Jake; “Five Four Girls” wouldn’t be what is without you.

-Lawrence Joseph