More than two decades into The Veer Union’s career, Crispin Earl still sounds like someone chasing the next creative spark rather than resting on past wins.
Canadian frontman Crispin Earl has been balancing multiple projects at once, juggling the band, his solo material, and his label Rock Shop Records while preparing for the release of The Veer Union’s latest album Reinvention, which arrived February 20th via Arising Empire.
The record marks a new chapter for the band, both musically and professionally, after years building their audience independently, the group secured a deal with the European label and approached the album with a clear goal, make every track count (and it shows).
We caught up with Crispin to talk about the reality of life in a touring band, why Reinvention felt like a reset, and what it actually takes to survive more than 20 years in modern rock.
Ned: You are a busy dude, two projects on the go at once yeah? Veer Union and Solo. You run your own label, too? Rock Shop Records. How do you juggle it all?
Crispin: Yes, I am absolutely extremely busy. I would have never thought at this point in time in my career that things would be as crazy as they are, but I couldn’t be happier being able to work on The Veer Union and my solo stuff and my record label, Rock Shop Records. I basically, I’m up at 5 a.m. and I work all day and I also have a fiancé and two kids, so my life is just go, go, go, go. But I really realized that being creative is really the place that I am the happiest, and I just feel very privileged to be able to do that. And I’m also doing a lot of writing and producing for the bands on Rock Shop Records, as well as the marketing, and it is a lot, but I love what I do, so it doesn’t really feel like work sometimes, most of the time, I’ll say.
The Veer Union ‘Caught In The Crossfire’
Ned: Reinvention is a ‘RESET’ – having said that, was there anything you refused to change?
Crispin: I don’t think that there’s anything that I refused to change because I don’t think that there is such thing as a bad thought when it comes to art. I think we’re always just going to be pushing into new territory that we haven’t really explored in the past, and I think that that’s what we achieved on Reinvention.
Ned: Was there a breaking point that pushed this album into existence, or did it build slowly over time?
Crispin: I don’t believe that there was a breaking point, but I will say that for many years, we’ve been hoping to kind of push into the European market. And I always said that I would never do another record deal unless we got offered a deal from a European label. And I feel like as fast as those words came out of my mouth, that’s exactly what did happen, and we got offered a deal that seemed fair with a Arising Empire. So we really wanted to put our best foot forward and write not just a couple of songs that we felt were strong singles. We wanted to write an album, we wanted to feel like every single song that you heard off this album is just as strong as the next. And I feel like that we achieved that on Reinvention.
The Veer Union ‘Sunk Your Teeth In’
Ned: Did any of these songs scare you to release?
Crispin: Back in the early days of my career, there might have been times where I was scared to release something, but at this point in time, I feel like if I listen to something and I love it, and I sit back and go, if I love it, I think our fans will too. So I don’t really get scared anymore.
Ned: Covering Sleep Token is a bold move. What drew you to their songs specifically?
Crispin: I will say that listening to Sleep Token and you really dive into the lyrical context of the band, I think as a person that has that has struggled with seeing a lot of the same things as an artist, I really connect with them as an artist so much, you know. There’s one lyric in their song Caramel that says, the stage is a prison, a beautiful nightmare. And I really relate to that because as an artist, there’s nothing better than being on that stage, but it’s also on the flip side of that, it can be very difficult to be on that stage every single night, especially knowing that your, your kids are at home and missing you and you’re missing them. For me, in my scenario now, things have definitely flipped and so I really relate to Sleep Token in that way.
@crispinearl Do you approve this version? @sleep_token #caramel #acoustic #singer #music #fypシ ♬ Caramel – Sleep Token
Ned: What’s the biggest lie people believe about what success looks like at your level?
Crispin: I think people believe that just if you’re out on tour, you guys are making money and everything is easy and you’re living the life of a rock star, but the truth of the matter is, going out on tour at our level is one of the most difficult things, when you’re going out on tour at our level, you have to cover absolutely everything financially, and most of the time, at our level, you’re lucky if you can come home and you break even. It’s a very difficult time, and for us, we’ve gone out on tour and had to put up, you know, $30,000, $40,000 for a tour vehicle and a work visa and from the first show, we’re starting to try to recoup that cost. And if your tour vehicle makes it home, you might be able to break even, but if it doesn’t, you’re out of pocket, 30 or 40 grand, and then you spend the next year making a new record and hoping that you can do it all over again. It can be very, very daunting. it’s also a bit of a sickness as an artist because there’s nothing that we would rather do than make that music and get out and play it for people. So it’s definitely a catch-22.
Ned: I’ve Always LOVED your imagery, who is behind it?
Crispin: I think we can all relate to the craziness that’s happening on the planet and with cancel culture and everybody having their own opinions. I certainly have my own opinions, and I think that the guys in my band were all very much aligned on our opinions. But, you know, sometimes it’s just better to say it in the lyrical content and not so much in the interview, and I’ll just leave it at that lol.
Ned: 22 years in the band, what has staying in this band actually cost you?
Crispin: Well, I would definitely say it has cost it’s cost me a lot of money, it’s cost me a lot of time, but that’s the price that you pay for doing what you love. So really, I don’t know if I can say it’s cost me. I will say I’ve been privileged enough to make a career in music, and I know that most people’s dream is to be able to make a career making art, and I have done that. And so, for me it is definitely worth the price.
Ned: What are you doing if you’re not a musician?
Crispin: I would probably be working behind the scenes, probably somewhere in marketing, because the reason I believe that is because throughout my journey, starting with Rockshop Records, I’ve realized that I’ve had to do a lot of marketing for my artists on the label, and it’s a completely different set of skills than just being an artist. And although there’s an art to marketing. So that being said, I will say I think that’s what I would be doing full-time, whether it was for music or whether it was for a different company, because I do enjoy that aspect, but putting it all together is probably the place that I’m the happiest.
Life outside of music
Ned: What do you getting into outside of music?
Crispin: I would say that outside of music, I really enjoy spending time with my family. I really love watching the kids discover new things and unlock new skills and just see the smiles on their faces. That’s pretty amazing to me. Aside from that, I love motorcycles. I ride motorcycles, I love going to a comedy club, and just, you know, just normal stuff. Just, I love doing normal stuff, but most of my life, as you know, is filled up with music and work.
Ned: What’s something you would recommend to people?
Crispin: Well, I would definitely say that what I would recommend is, even though some people look at it as very dangerous, I would say getting your motorcycle license and getting out on the road, not necessarily riding around town because that’s where it’s actually kind of the most dangerous, but getting out into the middle of nowhere and just feeling the air in your face as you ride in your motorcycle and go on motorcycle trips on long distance adventures is the most freeing, amazing thing that I have experienced aside from music.
Ned: What are your upcoming plans for 2026 and beyond?
Crispin: So our plan for 2026 is definitely to start preparing for tour. 2026 also marks 10 years from our album Decade 1 album , and we plan on doing a special edition version of that album to release at the end of 2026, and hoping to coincide that with a tour to promote Reinvention, Decade 1, and finally getting back out on tour because the last time we were out on tour was 2022. So we’re hoping that we can see all our friends and fans out there.
Two decades in, Crispin Earl is still building. Between Reinvention, his solo work, and running Rock Shop Records, the pace has only accelerated. The Veer Union’s latest record feels like exactly what its title suggests, a push forward rather than a look back.
If the band’s plans for touring in 2026 line up the way Earl hopes, fans may soon get to hear those songs where they belong: loud, live, and in front of a crowd again.
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