The Veils are a London based Indie/Alternative rock band fronted by lead singer and songwriter Finn Andrews.

Early years, The Runaway Found and split (2001-2004)

Finn was born in London but grew up "ping-ponging" between his father (musician Barry Andrews) who lived in England, and his mother and sister in Auckland, New Zealand. Finn began writing music while in Auckland though and frequented the local folk club during his early teens where he also played in 12 piece band. Eight of the ten songs that would make up The Runaway Found were written during this time, when Finn was between 14 and 16 years old. When Finn was 17 he sent a demo tape around to record companies in London and received several replies from record labels asking him to come London and make a record. Finn had apparently received no interest from labels in his home of New Zealand so left school at the start of his 7th form year and moved to London. He was signed by Geoff Travis a mere 3 weeks after stepping off the plane. Things were not plain sailing from there though - due to a long running dispute between Blanco Y Negro (a major label/indie label hybrid of Rough Trade Records and Warner Brothers) and the head of Warner Music at that time, The Veils record was delayed 2 years before it finally hit the shelves on February 16th 2004, now signed straight to Rough Trade Records. Two weeks after the album was released, Andrews, now 20 years old, announced he was unhappy with the direction the band had taken and that he would be disbanding the group, perhaps indefinitely.

New line-up and Nux Vomica (2005-2006)

Andrews returned to New Zealand, where he instantly started writing new material. He spent the summer of 2005 rehearsing with high-school mates Liam Gerrard (keyboards) and Sophia Burn (bass) in Liam's bedroom and soon amassed an album's worth of material. When the trio returned to London they were joined by Dan Raishbrook (guitar) and Henning Dietz (drums), who completed the new line-up. Nux Vomica was recorded with producer Nick Launay between Los Angeles and New Zealand in the Spring of 2006 and then released on September 18th. The new, far heavier and complex sound of the band was partially built on string arrangements by ex Lounge Lizard Jane Scarpantoni, but also a newly found, highly animalistic energy. Two singles were released from the album: "Advice for Young Mothers to Be" (September 4th 2006) and "One Night on Earth" (April 15th 2007), and the album featured on 16 English & American critics best of the year lists that year.

Life on the road and Sun Gangs (2007-2009)

In the following 16 months after the release of Nux Vomica the band played about 167 shows across 15 countries and during the U.S. leg of the tour it was announced that the keyboardist Liam Gerrard decided to leave the band to return home in New Zealand, due to personal reasons. The Veils carried on as a four piece and, whilst based in a garage in Oklahoma, they started recording new demos between playing shows on the east and west coast of America. By mid-2008 they were back to London to begin work on the third album with producer Graham Sutton. The recording sessions at West Point Studios lasted three weeks and at the end of the summer the album was done and ready to be mixed. In March 2009 they began touring the new songs in Europe and America with temporary drummer Raife Burchell. Sun Gangs was released on April 6th 2009 and three weeks after drummer Henning Dietz left the band.

Latest projects

Finn Andrews is said to have begun writing a new album which he intends to finish after the band's yet to be confirmed tour of Australia and New Zealand at the end of 2009. On the 8th September, The Veils posted a link via their website to offer a new song written by Finn Andrews for free download. The track "Turn from the Rain" was recorded by Finn Andrews in his flat in London during the weeks between tours. Finn Andrews comments that "this song was recorded last week in my flat in London in an attempt to extinguish a heavy case of post-American-tour-anxiety. Please freely download and distribute as you wish". Fans are able to download the song for free, and are encouraged to distribute the song by sending it to friends.

• The Veils' official website
• The Veils at Myspace
• 'The Veils Album Journal' blog
• The Veils fan forum
• Rough Trade Records