Venn

The London trio Venn, which fuses post-punk and Krautrock, first took shape in 2013 after vocalist and drummer Ben Leverock encountered guitarist Stuart Gardham at auditions for a fleeting project. Just half a year later the other two participants departed to form the electronica duo Shift Work, prompting Leverock and Gardham to remain friends and keep creating together by pooling their prior experience—Leverock under the name Esser and Gardham through his work in Interiors and La Haine. The pair self-produced their opening EP, Echoes from Foreign Spaces, then distributed it unconventionally by depositing copies at scattered sites such as HMV Oxford Street, the restrooms of Soho House social club, and Jack Kerouac’s grave in Lowell, Massachusetts, each containing a note inviting recipients to make contact. The unusual tactic generated early interest in their dark, brooding, propulsive sound, which drew from Cluster, Suicide, Liars, and Wire. Keyboardist and bassist John Petrie joined in 2014, completing the lineup, after which the group began performing throughout London; that same year Leverock launched the electro-house duo Host. Although he married and relocated to Berlin at the start of 2016, Venn persisted via online collaboration, issuing the well-received EPs Runes EP and RUNE002LP that year on their own Rune imprint. Increased attention secured a deal with Full Time Hobby, which put out the band’s first album, likewise titled Runes, in early 2017.