Venn

Venn is a post-punk and krautrock group from Washington, D.C., and there is also a separate London trio with the same name. The Washington, D.C. act is described as a shoegaze and dream pop band.

London trio

The London Venn begins in 2013, when vocalist and drummer Ben Leverock and guitarist Stuart Gardham meet while auditioning for a short-lived band. That group splits after six months, when the other two members leave to form the electronica duo Shift Work. Leverock and Gardham continue working together and draw on earlier experience in other projects: Leverock records as Esser, while Gardham has played in Interiors and La Haine.

The band self-produces its debut EP, Echoes from Foreign Spaces, and uses an unusual street-level method to promote it, leaving copies in places such as HMV Oxford Street, the toilets of Soho House, and the grave of Jack Kerouac in Lowell, Massachusetts, each with a note asking finders to get in touch. The approach helps generate attention around the group’s dark, brooding and propulsive sound, which is influenced by Cluster, Suicide, Liars and Wire.

John Petrie joins in 2014 on keyboards and bass, completing the trio. The band begins playing gigs around London, while Leverock also forms the electro-house duo Host. In 2016, Leverock marries and moves to Berlin, but the group continues to collaborate over the internet. That year Venn releases two EPs, Runes EP and RUNE002LP, through its own Rune label. The band later signs to Full Time Hobby, which releases the debut album Runes in 2017.