San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
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 extraord ...
, 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 aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era ...
. Their sound is a fusion of modern and old-world styles including
gothic-rock
Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...
darkwave
Dark wave (also typeset as 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 be ...
,
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
trip hop
Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow temp ...
,
ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...
, and other related genres. The band consists of vocalist Joshua A. Pfeiffer, and multi-instrumentalists
Martín Irigoyen
Martín Daniel Irigoyen (born January 14, 1977) is an Argentine musician best known as a composer and multi-instrumentalist with Vernian Process and Profondo Delle Tenebre. He has participated in many solo and group projects outside of Vernian P ...
, 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
Behold is an American brand of furniture polish produced by Nakoma Products, LLC. Behold furniture polish and Endust dusting aid were previously produced by Sara Lee. When Drackett was sold to S. C. Johnson & Son in 1992, these two products, End ...
''. 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 modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...
tarantella
() is a group of various southern Italian folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania and Puglia. It is characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in time (sometimes or ), accompanied by tambourines. It is among the ...
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 ( ; grc, Καλλιόπη, Kalliópē, beautiful-voiced) 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 ...
. 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'', and MTV during their coverage of the Steampunk genre.
Band members
* Joshua A. Pfeiffer - Vocals, songwriting
*
Martín Irigoyen
Martín Daniel Irigoyen (born January 14, 1977) is an Argentine musician best known as a composer and multi-instrumentalist with Vernian Process and Profondo Delle Tenebre. He has participated in many solo and group projects outside of Vernian P ...
- 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 is a Canadian industrial music group formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group is 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 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's member ...
, and
Faith and the Muse
Faith and the Muse is an American rock band composed of Monica Richards and William Faith. Their music encompasses many genres, from folk music to dark wave, drawing on many sources and influences, notably Dead Can Dance. Richards is the prima ...
, 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 conventions/ symposia in the United States. Located in the Seattle area of Washington state, Steamcon held its first symposium in 2009.
Steamcon grew out of the desire of its founders to host a steampunk ...
in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange, Durham County, North Carolina, Durham and Chatham County, North Carolina, Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States Ce ...
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
San Mateo, California
San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame, California, Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough, California, Hillsboro ...
; and the
Edwardian Ball
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. 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 M ...
Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a 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, 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 housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fea ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
, 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/ Italo-Disco project inspired by the Italian
Giallo
In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, a ...
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, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the M ...
and
Dario Argento
Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and critic. His influential work in the horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as ''giallo'', has led him t ...
) 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 (also typeset as 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 be ...
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