Vera Ellen was born and raised in Naenae in Te Whanganui-A-Tara/Wellington. She spent her younger years playing and writing music, her first song written at age 8. Whilst living in Aotearoa, she played in bands such as grunge 4-piece Maple Syrup and Sweater. Vera relocated to Los Angeles, where she started the band Girl Friday, whose music debuted on indie giant Sub Pop’s sub-label, Hardly Art. In early 2020, Vera moved back to Aotearoa during the pandemic, leading to her finishing her solo album, It’s Your Birthday – released on Flying Nun Records in October 2021. This album saw Vera named ‘Best Alternative Artist’ at the 2022 Aotearoa Music Awards.
The 2023 follow-up album, Ideal Home Noise was a record unearthed from much introspection and an attempt to find some comedy and lightness in an otherwise dark period for Vera Ellen. With two “voices” battling throughout the album, the instrumentation is sometimes light – featuring synths and electronic drums – and sometimes heavy – with ballad-like piano and raw vocals. Vera’s momentum was unstoppable with her last 13 track album reaching all corners of the world.
Vera has had multiple tracks featured in the NZ Official Alt Charts, with her single Carpenter spending 4 weeks in the charts, peaking at #1 and 2022’s standalone single Homewrecker, spending 14 weeks in the charts, peaking at #8. Upon release, 2023’s Ideal Home Noise reached #7 on the Official NZ Top 20 Album Charts.
Internationally, Vera’s music has reached as far as Australia, France, USA and the UK, with a write-up in France’s national newspaper Le Monde, a feature in Loud & Quiet Magazine (UK), Ideal Home Noise was also named #3 in Rolling Stone’s “Top NZ albums of 2023”. In the USA, Vera’s 2023 album charted #55 on the NACC Radio 200 Chart, and scored Top 30 Support from nearly 30 stations & picked support from 26 other stations.
As well as many shows around her home country of New Zealand, including the 2025 Laneway Festival, Vera has also toured with her band around the world; a 14-date exploratory tour of China, a sold out run of shows in Australia in support of Crowded House, and visits to New Colossus Festival and SXSW (both Austin and Sydney editions)
Photo Credit: Nicola Sandford
