Fresh off the release of their latest single, “Sweeten The Victory,” Philly alt-rock band Valendina is preparing for an exciting new show at Silk City in Northern Liberties on Jan. 25.
Valendina lead singer and bassist Karina Patricelli and guitarist Chase Sakers sat down with Metro to discuss their journey from meeting at Delco’s Let There Be Rock School, to their upcoming Philly show.
“We met at the Let There Be Rock School,” Patricelli said, discussing the group’s origins. “We did their band program and also took lessons at the school, and just through that program, we all became friends, and we have honestly been friends ever since. When Valendina first started up, I would say probably around 2019, Tommy was in the mix of wanting to start a project and ended up being like, ‘Yo, do you want to be a part of this?’ And I was like, ‘Hell yeah.'”
At that time, I was writing myself, and I kid you not, the first band practice I had [with] Tommy, he had a riff, and I was just like, ‘Oh my god, I have a melody and lyrics that go exactly with your chord progression.’ And we just clicked. I just knew at that moment, we were going to be able to write together, and this is going to work,” Patricelli continued. “Maybe about a year and a half later, Chase ended up joining a guitar player, which is awesome because we all mesh so well together.
“We can bring stuff to practice, and just all vibe with each other, and no one’s ever sitting there fighting during the writing; it’s just collaborative. And then Eric ended up joining maybe about a year later, and again, it just meshed so well. We all got each other. And I think that also stems from the fact that we’ve been friends for so long, and we’ve been through [not just] the Philly music scene together, but growing up in our own hometown music scene.”
Now, six years since their inception, the song-making process remains as collaborative and honest as ever for Valendina.
“[As] I said, we’re very collaborative with [our writing], and I feel like a lot of the things that we write, I base it off of things I have to say, which, I know, it’s kind of cliche in a way, but it’s because I feel like music is a universal language where people can communicate thoughts and words, and sometimes it’s a little better than talking because you feel that emotion from the song and you can feel it from the lyrics at the same time. And when I say song, I mean instrumentally [as well], because of the way it builds up.
“A lot of the songs like ‘Sweeten the Victory’ and even ‘Break it Off’, they were all messages I was trying to convey. Like ‘Sweeten the Victory’, is all about the fact that, throughout life, you’re expected to be doing so many certain things and living up to some sort of expectations. And sometimes, you’re allowed to take a step back and realize you should do what makes you happy.”
“Our previous EP is called ‘Soften the Blow’. This is the sister EP, ‘Sweeten the Victory’, kind of like going hand in hand, like yin and yang, light and dark,” added guitarist Chase Sakers. “What we were thinking here, because ‘Soften the Blow’, a lot of those songs are darker, kind of angstier, and we’re trying with ‘Sweeten the Victory’ to have a more upbeat, not exactly positive lyrical content, but more positive, upbeat and more danceable songs.”
Despite a slight change in sound, Valendina’s music has never stopped representing the group’s thoughts and feelings.
“It definitely has evolved to our music taste, but it’s definitely more cohesive on this new EP that we’re dropping because we’re kind of in the zone of what we want out of it. And again, like how Chase was saying, we know how to work with each other. Even when we were in the studio, we were having a fun time, and, of course, being goofy, because we’re a goofy band, but we knew what we needed to get down when we had to get down to the nitty-gritty.”
Artists have continued to draw inspiration from one another for as long as music has been around. As for Valendina’s inspirations, they come in many forms.
“I’m kind of all over the place personally,” Patricelli said. “But I love Hot Mulligan. I’m a big Paramore fan, too, which I knew is a big cliche for a female-fronted band to say. But I personally love everything they’ve done. But I can go anywhere from that, or I was just talking to Chase the other night about Origami Angels. I feel like, especially on the record ‘Somewhere City,’ I feel like our vibe very much matches that vibe.
As for local inspiration, Philadelphia boasts such a rich and diverse history in the music scene one would be hard-pressed not to find an influential musician with Philly ties in nearly every style of music. For Valendina, one of their primary local inspirations is a band that, though it has already spun off into another project — Slaughter Beach, Dog — has influenced many since the band’s inception.
“For me, especially with the Philly music scene,” Sakers added. “I grew up following Modern Baseball around. Especially our earlier stuff and definitely Ricky Bobby — one of Valendina’s upcoming releases you can hear come Valentine’s Day — is very inspired by that kind of Philly basement rock.”
As for what folks can experience at Silk City, Patricelli promised an active and spirited experience.
“Expect to be immersed and expect to have fun and feel the energy. We come to play. I mean, we want to have fun, and we want everybody in the room to feel like they are a part of the show. We don’t want them to feel like they’re just spectators and waiting for the next band. We want them to know that they’re important to us. And we want them to have the best 30 minutes in that bar, the way we want to have the best 30 minutes on that stage.”
Valendina will take the stage at Silk City in Northern Liberties on Jan. 25. For more information or for tickets, visit silkcityphilly.com
