Verve Pipe Comes Clean On 'The Freshman'

07/01/1999 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(7/1/99, 1 p.m. PDT) - "The Freshman" was one of the biggest songs of 1997, and its success enabled the Verve Pipe to tour and become a modern rock radio favorite. Since then, singer Brian Vander Ark has come clean. He now says that he wasn't completely honest about the origin of the song.

"On the last record, on Villains, I was afraid to open up and say that for instance, 'The Freshman' was about me," Vander Ark says. "It was about myself and my friend. And at the time it was like, 'I overheard it at a party, you know, the story.' I was a complete coward to say that. And the fact is that I realize that on the making of this record that not everybody is going to like me. But I like myself more now because I'm completely honest, or I try to be completely honest."

Vander Ark adds that he is uneasy about having critics and the public judge him. "I am afraid to be out there now and put their judgment on me, but I've been judged my whole life."

The Verve Pipe's self-titled album, which Vander Ark notes comes from a more personal space, is due July 27.

To read a Verve Pipe feature, click here.

-- Darren Davis, New York

Got news tips, comments, or questions? Send them to newstips@launch.com.