Vernian Process is an American

neoclassical dark wave Dark wave, or darkwave, is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as being dark, ro ...

band formed in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in 2003. Taking its name from the works of 19th century author

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

, Vernian Process is a band that creates music themed around Victorian

scientific romance Scientific romance is an archaic, mainly British term for the genre of fiction now commonly known as science fiction. The term originated in the 1850s to describe both fiction and elements of scientific writing, but it has since come to refer to ...

and its modern counterpart

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

. Their sound is a fusion of modern and old-world styles. The band consists of vocalist Joshua A. Pfeiffer, and multi-instrumentalists Martín Irigoyen, Steven Farrell, and Vincent Van Veen.

Career

Pfeiffer began working on music under the name Vernian Process in the winter of 2003. He released a number of downloadable albums over the next 4 years, including 2004's ''Discovery'' and 2006's ''The Forgotten Age'', before being approached by Irigoyen about joining forces to work on '' Behold the Machine''. From that point forward, Vernian Process evolved beyond a solo project. Throughout 2009, as work on the album progressed, Vernian Process sought out additional members in order to play shows to support the upcoming release of ''Behold the Machine'', as well as record new material for future albums. ''Behold the Machine'' was released on October 1, 2010. On November 11, 2010, they announced that their next album would be titled ''The Consequences Of Time Travel''. On June 27, 2011, Vernian Process released the first single from the new album, entitled "Something Wicked (That Way Went)." The song was inspired by

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

's similarly titled dark fantasy novel Something Wicked This Way Comes. The song integrates

tarantella Tarantella () is a group of various Southern Italy, southern Italian Italian folk dance, folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania, Sicilia, and Apulia. It is characterized by a fast Beat (music), upbeat tempo, usually in Ti ...

and

circus music Circus music (also known as carnival music) is any sort of music that is played to accompany a circus, and also music written that emulates its general style. Popular music would also often get arranged for the circus band, as well as waltzes, fox ...

styles with progressive rock and features a sampled

calliope In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; ) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses". Mythology Calliope had two famous sons, OrpheusH ...

. It features Kyle Thomas and Unwoman as guest musicians. On October 31, 2011, they released a special remix of "Behold the Machine" entitled "Behold the Machine (Factory Floor Mix)." The remix incorporates EBM and industrial influences. In October 2014, bassist Vincent Van Veen joined the project.

Press

Vernian Process has appeared in articles in media such as the UK publication ''

Bizarre Magazine ''Bizarre'' was a British alternative magazine published from 1997 to 2015.Media Information
Dennis ...

'', and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

during their coverage of the Steampunk genre.

Band members

* Joshua A. Pfeiffer - Vocals, songwriting * Martín Irigoyen - Guitars, songwriting, various instruments, SFX * Brian Figueroa - Guitars, keyboards * Vincent Van Veen - Bass * Steven Farrell - Keyboards, percussion

Live appearances

Live, Vernian Process is often joined by cellist Erica Mulkey, aka Unwoman. Vernian Process has appeared at events performing with Attrition,

Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy was a Canadian electro-industrial band formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group was among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crom ...

Front Line Assembly Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 in music, 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The ba ...

, and Faith and the Muse, Ravenwood Festival in Arkansas, and the Eccentrik Music Festival in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 2008. In 2009 they appeared at a number of festivals, notably

Steamcon Steamcon was one of the largest steampunk Fan convention, conventions/symposium, symposia in the United States. Located in the Seattle area of Washington (U.S. state), Washington state, Steamcon held its first symposium in 2009. Steamcon grew ou ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, Eccentrik Festival in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

, and The Endless Night Festival in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. In 2011, they performed across the West Coast at events such as Gaslight Gathering in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

;

Maker Faire Maker Faire is a convention of do it yourself (DIY) enthusiasts established by '' Make'' magazine in 2006. Participants come from a wide variety of interests, such as robotics, 3D printing, computers, arts and crafts, and hacker culture. Hist ...

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

; and the Edwardian Ball in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. In 2012 they appeared alongside

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

at the inaugural 'Steamstock' festival at the Craneway Pavilion in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.

Other projects

Shades of Violet

As of 2008, Joshua, Martin, and Allison Curval have begun working together on the musical score for the steampunk themed videogame; "Shades of Violet: Song of the Clockwork Princess" for Imagineer Games.

Dirigible Days

In 2012, Vernian Process was commissioned to write the theme song for the newly released steampunk web series Dirigible Days. The resulting instrumental track, "New Horizons", was released as a single on August 13, 2012. The edited version for the show's opening also features narration by

Anthony Daniels Anthony Daniels ( ; born 21 February 1946) is an English actor and mime artist, best known for playing in 11 ''Star Wars'' films. He is the only actor to have either appeared in or been involved with all theatrical films in the series, and h ...

, most famous for his work as the voice of C-3PO in the Star Wars film series.

The Getty

In February 2014, The

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California launched a video they created with Vernian Process to promote their Victorian photography exhibition. It shows a trip to The Getty as a time traveling experience.

Profondo Delle Tenebre

In mid-2014, frontman Joshua Pfeiffer formed Profondo Delle Tenebre, a

synthwave Synthwave (also called retrowave, or futuresynth) is an electronic music microgenre that is based predominantly on the music associated with the Film score, film soundtracks of action films, science fiction films, and horror films of the 1980s. ...

/ Italo-Disco project inspired by the Italian

Giallo In Italian cinema, (; : ; from , ) is a genre that often contains Slasher film, slasher, thriller (genre), thriller, psychological horror, psychological thriller, Sexploitation film, sexploitation, and, less frequently, supernatural, supernat ...

horror genre. He was soon joined by Half Rats of fellow Steampunk band Ague, and Vernian Process keyboardist Steven Farrell, as well as Vernian Process bandmate Martin Irigoyen. Operating under the pseudonyms Dario Bava, Mario Argento (after filmmakers

Mario Bava Mario Bava (; 31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter. His low-budget genre films, known for their distinctive visual flair and stylish ...

and

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. His influential work in the horror film, horror and giallo genres during the 1970s and 1980s has led him to being referred to as the "Master of the ...

) and "The Shape", the first full-length album ''Esoterica'' was released in October 2015. Profondo Delle Tenebre has also remixed tracks for San Francisco-based

darkwave Dark wave, or darkwave, is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as being dark, ro ...

band Roadside Memorial and horror synth artist Nightcrawler.

Discography

Albums

* ''The Symphonic Collection'' (2007) * ''The Cries of a Planet: A Tribute to Final Fantasy VII'' (2009) * ''Sonic Symphony: An Orchestral Tribute to the Sega 16-Bit Games'' (2010) * ''A Cursed Legacy: An Orchestral Tribute to the Music of Castlevania'' (2013) * ''Beyond the End of Time: An Orchestral Tribute to Chrono Trigger'' (2013) * ''Sonic Symphony: 25th Anniversary Remix'' (2016) (Credited to "Josh of Vernian Process") * ''Castlevania: The Eternal Legacy (Vol. 1) 1986-1996'' (2017) * ''Sonic Symphony 2.0'' (2018) * ''The Consequences of Time Travel'' (TBA)

Singles

* ''Something Wicked (That Way Went)'' (2011) * ''New Horizons (Dirigible Days Theme)'' (2012) * ''ELEgy'' (2013) * ''Fractured Memories (In the Looking Glass)'' (2016) * ''La Solitude'' (2020)

EPs

* ''Steam Age Symphony'' (2003) * ''Revolution'' (2005)

Compilations

* ''Catching Up With Vernian Process'' (2006) * ''Catalysts'' (2006) - A Collection of cover versions * ''Discovery of The Forgotten Age'' (2020) - A Collection of remastered early songs * ''Before the Machine'' (2020) - A Collection of remastered early songs

References

External links

Vernian Process Official Site

* {{Authority control American dark wave musical groups Musical groups from San Francisco Neoclassical dark wave musical groups Steampunk music