Several days ago, the Vans Warped Tour made its way to Mountain View, California. VVP had the opportunity to sit down and interview Sierra Kusterbeck, the lead singer of VersaEmerge. Here is what she had to say.

What does the name VersaEmerge mean?

Blake [Harnage] came up with it, and “versa” as in “vice versa”, which is the opposite or “to change”, and “emerge” is, of course, emerging. So it’s supposed to give you this visual of something exploding or imploding, at least to me. It can mean whatever you want, I guess. Blake came up with it before I was ever in the band. It’s funny, though, because we actually tried to change our name to Versa before the record came out and drop the Emerge, but there were a lot of problems with copyright.

What’s your favorite part about being in a band?

The best part about being in a band is being able to express myself and do what I love, which is singing and performing. I love being on stage more than anything. Getting to inspire people is also really cool, which I didn’t expect. A lot of people come to me and say that I helped them find who they are, or I’ve helped them get through something really tough, or just the band’s music really did something for them in their lives, and I think that’s really cool.

What does your band do to get ready for a show?

That’s a good question, because I don’t really know. Just today, I was watching Alesana before they went on stage; they have their whole routine that they do. We put our hands in, and we say something every day, but we don’t really have a routine. Once we’re a band for a long amount of time, I think we’re going to come up with something, but we haven’t gotten there yet.

Is there a standard writing process for you and the band?

No. It’s different every time. It always starts with an idea, whether it’s just an idea for a story for a song or it may simply be just one little riff Blake writes, maybe it’ll be a programming sequence he writes. It’s different every single time.

Do you have a favorite song you like to perform live?

I really like doing “Figure It Out”.

Do you have any specific goals for your band this year?

Goals. Definitely tons of goals. We definitely want to go out and sell the record even though that’s really hard because new record sales aren’t really the craziest thing in the world right now. Also, just to progress and not to be at a standstill.

How long have you all known each other, and how did you meet?

I’ve known Blake for almost 3 years now, and I met him when I first auditioned for the band. I didn’t know him before that, and the same with Devin. So, almost three years. You know, that doesn’t seem like a long time. It’s weird because me and Blake are best friends, and it’s only been three years… Weird.

How has your music evolved since you began as a band?

It’s definitely matured, of course, because we’ve matured. From our first EP, you can hear influences that we had from other bands because we were still trying to figure out who we were and learning about ourselves, and we were all working together the for first time. As we go, we find our personal sound. We’re really delving into what we want to be, and putting back our influences and really thinking about us.

Is there any one person who motivated you to want to be in a band?

I don’t think there was any one person that I can recall, besides Anthony Green definitely did. I went to a Circa show, and I remember just watching him and just thinking, “I have to do that”. He definitely inspired me in many ways. Just going to shows and seeing it on stage, just the adrenaline and the feeling and the atmosphere of it, what else in the world could be better? That’s what I thought at least. Travelling every day, singing your heart out, and people just loving it… I wanted nothing else. If I didn’t have it and if I didn’t make that happen for myself, then I don’t know what the hell I’d be doing.

How was Versa discovered?

Our manager works with this company that is very tight with Fueled By Ramen, so when they found out that he was managing us, they were wondering who this band was. The head of FBR liked it and was interested in a girl band at the time, and he wanted to sign us. So we talked to them, and it all worked out.

How did the name Fixed At Zero come about for the album?

I don’t remember writing it, but I remember going through my lyrics and thinking that it might work. I was worried though, because I didn’t know if anyone would understand what it meant. I remember asking Blake and the others if they liked it. They did, and so we were all really excited. The album was originally going to be called Lost Tree, but Fixed At Zero seemed more to stick and hit you in the face a bit better.

Do you have any other hobbies besides singing and performing?

When I’m home, I run around my house in my underwear and sing in mirrors. That’s pretty much it. I don’t like to leave my house. When I’m out, I’m either going to yoga or at the beach. Kayaking, I do that a lot. When I’m not on tour, I’m home and at my house.

Do you have any specific pet peeves?

Yes! Bathroom doors that don’t lock, and if somebody just walks in on you… I guess that’s more of a fear rather than a pet peeve, but I just hate it when people don’t knock, and they just walk in on you. It just freaks me out.

What’s an embarrassing experience that you remember, whether on tour or not?

It’s really hard for me to be embarrassed. Thank God, because I’ve done a lot of embarrassing things. Yesterday, first day of Warped Tour, we were just kind of getting into the groove because it’s the first day that we played.

I was there. Was that when you dropped your microphone?

Yeah! You have no idea. It was me grabbing it, and it just falling to the ground. I just awkwardly bent over and picked it up. There have been plenty of times on stage where I grab the mic and the cable just flies away. I have to go get it, and it happens all the time. At Bamboozle, in front of 4,000 people, I run on stage, and I almost slip a little because my boots have no grip to them. I turn around, and I just bust my ass all over these cables and monitors. I’m just thinking, “Of course I would fall right now.” Everybody from the label is on the side stage watching, and I’m just saying, “Yup. I’m that guy falling everywhere.”

So what’s with the birds?

It’s one bird. It’s a vulture. It’s supposed to be all of your demons and bad habits that a person has within themselves. When I say it’s on my shoulder, I mean that it’s just always lurking in the back of your mind, and you kind of never forget about it. It’s just a song expressing all of my demons that are hanging over my head, and I have to either fight or join.

Even though the record just came out, are you working toward anything else?

We want to tour off of this record for as long as possible. If we have ideas, we’ll of course write them down. I write every day, and Blake writes a lot as well. We’re working on working ourselves.

Awesome. Any last words?

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. That “uh”. That was it.

Their set was filled with new songs as well as old ones. VersaEmerge always puts on a good show and never disappoints. Filled with energy, the band gives 110% and performs to the peak of their abilities every time. If there is a band not to miss, it’s VersaEmerge. Go check them out on the Vans Warped Tour in a city near you!
http://www.myspace.com/versaemerge

-Megan