Talking About Getting the Gig, New Album, and Tour

Hello MD readers! Veronica Bellino here and I am the drummer with Life of Agony.

A brief background on how I “got the gig.” I was introduced to LOA’s guitar player, Joey Z, through our mutual friend Jeff Cummings, the guitar player in the band Sworn Enemy. I believe it was 2010 while at NAMM. I could immediately tell that Joey had a great vibe about him and was a genuinely good person.

At the time, I was in a band called 13, which was signed to LL Cool J, and also in communication with Jeff Beck about performing and recording with him. There wasn’t really a thought in my mind at the time that I would one day be in a band with Joey Z, but we kept in touch. He came to a few drum clinics I did in NY and we ended up jamming at his studio in Brooklyn just for fun.

Fast-forward to November 2017, when I received a missed call from Joey Z. It had been a while since we last spoke and there was this feeling that something was up. I called him back, and after catching up a bit he mentioned that Life of Agony had come to a turning point and was looking to move forward with a different drummer. I was very shocked to hear this, naturally, but also a bit intrigued because in the back of my mind I was thinking, “Is this why he is calling me? Is he going to ask me to play in LOA?” Well, it turns out he was and before he could even finish I said, “Joe, don’t call anyone else, the answer is yes!” We laughed and put together a jam with the rest of the band in January 2018 and that’s how we started. Advertisement

We released The Sound of Scars in October 2019 with our first single “Scars” and our newest single, “Stone.” Our tour kicks off in March on Friday the thirteenth. It is the Beast Coast Monsters Tour with Doyle and All Hail The Yeti.

If you have been following me on Instagram, then you’ve seen the development of a series I created with Doyle called “Hey Doyle.” It is a short bit that I do backstage where I catch Doyle off guard and ask him cheesy jokes. They are usually horror or vegan themed. The band would be on the way to the venue and we would all try to think of new “Hey Doyle” jokes for that night. A lot of people got into it and even started sending me their own jokes. Season two will be happening with this next tour, and this time I thought it would be fun to have fans submit their jokes to me in a private message. If I use them I will tag that person in the caption. Follow me at @Spiralz88 on Instagram if you would like to participate.

Thanks to Modern Drummer and to you for reading!

Watch “Scars” here: 

 

Check out the official lyric video for “Stone” here: 

 

Watch Life of Agony Recording The Sound of Scars on Napalm Records, here:

 

For tour dates, news, and more, visit https://www.lifeofagony.com.