EMQs With VersOver

EMQ’s With VersOver
15/07/2024

Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Progressive Power Metallers VersOver. Huge thanks to project founders Gary Wehrkamp and Marc Centanni for taking part. 

What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?

I’m Mauricio Magaldi, and I play the drums for VersOver.

The current lineup consists of Gustavo Carmo (guitars), Rodrigo Carmo (vocals), Leandro Moreira (bass) and myself.

The band started back in 1997, when Gustavo and Rodrigo, brothers and my childhood friends, invited me to join them and start writing original material. They had a background in cover bands (Ozzy and Iron Maiden), and I was stepping out of my first band, Thanatus.

We toured extensively in 1998 while writing for our first album, Love Hate and Everything in Between, which was released in 1999 by Die Hard Records. 

Over the years, with different lineups, we released a total of 1 demo tape, 3 full length albums, 1 EP, 1 Live DVD and participated in various metal compilations, both in Brazil and internationally.

How did you come up with your band name?

While looking for band names early on, Gustavo found inspiration on the booklet of the Rush Counterparts CD and, in the page with various word counterparts, found “Chapter & Verse” and “Over & Out”. We joined Verse and Over, and thus VersOver was born.

It took us a while to come up with the meaning for VersOver, but we landed on “the end of a verse”, or “the verse is over”, to indicate the conclusion of an abstraction, moving from consideration to action, or something to that effect.

Fun fact: years later, we had Hugh Syme, the artist responsible for that art, and almost all of Rush’s albums’ art, doing the artistic and design direction of our album, Hell’s Inc. Hugh also went on to do all the arts for Gustavo’s solo material.

What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?

We started back in our hometown Bebedouro, which is up north in Sao Paulo state. It’s largely an agricultural city/region, and back in 1997 there wasn’t much of a music scene other than the local acts playing “sertanejo” (a form of pasteurised country music) and top 40 cover bands. The small metal footprint was actually a motivation factor. We did have a lot of rotation between the musicians who usually played for a few bands each.

Over the years, with us OGs being active for many years, with reasonable consistency and exposure, the scene evolved and today metal is a staple around that region. Today metal is an established genre, and I like to think that we have something to do with it. 

It’s also worth noting that Rodrigo and Leandro (our “new” bass player for around 15 years) have a tribute band, Bernadeaf, and they play all the classic metal music you’d want to hear. Their concerts are very energetic, and they play wherever people will have them, so this helps to keep the metal scene alive.

What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)

Our latest original release was Hell’s Inc., from 2017, which is available on streaming and on CD (probably our last physical release), and we have a pro-shot live concert available on our YouTube channel, which was captured in 2019 when we opened for Symphony X, in São Paulo.

Who have been your greatest influences?

We like to think of our music as a blend between Rush and Megadeth, but each of us have influences from a variety of sources, which we try to both balance and veer away from when writing our materials.

What first got you into music?

I personally had a very musical household growing up, but even though none of my parents are musicians, they encouraged me picking up drums when I was a teenager. Ganso, father to both Gustavo and Rodrigo, was a professional musician and radio broadcaster, so that was a perennial presence in their home. Leandro is about 10 years younger than the rest of us and grew up going to our early shows. Years later he joined us, bringing things full circle.

If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?

We have toyed with the idea of having a big concert with a full-on orchestra to play some of our favourite tracks live with us, but haven’t got around to do it yet. Our most recent collaboration was with Maestrick, from neighbouring town, São José do Rio Preto, who had Gustavo playing on and producing their first full length and had Rodrigo singing on it as well.

If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?

Either Prog Power in the Netherlands (we applied to play there a few times, but never got picked up) and Wacken. And what band didn’t dream of playing the OzzFest back in the day?

What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?

I’m sure you don’t want to know this haha.

If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?

Thanks for sticking with us for these many years and hope we can continue to produce good heavy music for you for many years to come! \m/

If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be? Why?

The professor on the drums, Neil Peart. 

What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?

I hate that music has become a commodity, and that it seems that it won’t change any time soon. 

I love that I get to express myself in ways that resonate with other people and create a connection that goes beyond just words.

If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

I wish musicians had sided with Metallica’s Lars Ulrich when they fought against Napster. That might have forced regulation that could protect the value of music and not result in the current state of the industry where great musicians are starving.

Read “Cowboys and Indies” by Gareth Murphy.

Name one of your all-time favourite albums.

Rush, “Counterparts”. Obviously.

What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs, Streaming or Downloads?

CDs. Both for quality and form-factor. Streaming and Download can’t carry physical art, which was a big part of the experience of owning music. 

What’s the best gig that you have played to date?

That Symphony X concert was pretty much up there in terms of gigs. We also played on national TV back in 2001, when we did an appearance on a famous late night talk show, Programa do Jô.

If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?

I can’t consider myself a musician. I have a pretty ordinary job in tech, but I’m always thinking of music.

Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?

My three bandmates, Rarco and Capuano. We’d have a giant fillet parmigiana.

What’s next for the band?

We’ve been on a hiatus since the pandemic, life’s happened to all of us, but we do have plans to write new stuff and find time to tour again.

What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people? 

We’re on most social media, but these are the most up to date:

VersOver on Instagram: www.instagram.com/versover 

VersOver on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@versover 

Gustavo Carmo on Instagram: www.instagram.com/gustavo_carmo_guitar 

Gustavo Carmo on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@GustavoCarmoGuitar 

Bernadeaf on Instagram: www.instagram.com/bernadeaf_ 

Bernadeaf on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@bernadeaf3923 

Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun, a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?

Time for a very Brazilian answer: hot dogs are NOT sandwiches.

Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Thanks for the space and for the interest in our stuff. Much appreciated.