On the Rise
Cloudy June

Having spent the past three years building a fanbase online with her tongue-in-cheek pop-rock bops and equally clever and assertive TikToks, Claudia Verdecia is now reconciling her online success with in-person reality. Having battled stage fright on her recent sold-out headline tour, she’s gearing up for forthcoming European dates with a healthy mix of vocal lessons and therapy sessions.

Born and raised in Berlin, Verdecia’s early inspirations spanned from Judas Priest to Rihanna to a certain British guitar-wielder. “I had a mad obsession with Jake Bugg for a long time,” she laughs. “I wanted to learn how to do a British accent, but it sounded like a German person trying to speak English, so I quit there and accepted my German accent.”

Taking guitar lessons from the age of nine, Verdecia began to write songs alongside her learning, eventually dropping the classes and teaching herself to play. “When I was thirteen, I was really convinced that I was gonna have to be a world star and make music,” she explains. “I was like, this is what I’m gonna do. There’s nothing else that makes sense to me. That’s when I started to think of it as something I really wanted to make out of myself.”

As part of a project at school when she was sixteen, she formed a band with her classmates. Bringing in songs that she admits sounded like Foreigner, the band’s guitarist decided to introduce Verdecia to the world of metal. “He showed me Arch Enemy and I was like, shit, women can scream? I had never seen or heard it before,” she says. “I spent the first two years being very bad at screaming. It sounded good but it hurt my voice. Then for the last year I really had the technique down and just screamed at people. It was a good time.”

The band lasted for three years, playing in local battle of the bands contests and youth concerts. However, by the age of nineteen Verdecia knew she needed to get serious. Bringing together her bandmates, she questioned if they all shared her dream. “I realised if I’m just going to sit around and play songs and wait for someone to discover me, it’s never going to happen. I have to take it in my own hands and work for it,” she explains.

The band went on indefinite hiatus and Verdecia focused her attention on a new solo EP, determined to make music her career. Having previously rejected pop in favour of visceral metal, she began to embrace a more diverse approach to her listening habits. “Pop music is the death of music and pop music is the worst and I hate it,” she recounts from her former viewpoint. “I was so anti, but I discovered a song by Billie Eilish and one by Lil Peep and I was putting my Spotify on private and listening to these songs.”

The band went on indefinite hiatus and Verdecia focused her attention on a new solo EP, determined to make music her career. Having previously rejected pop in favour of visceral metal, she began to embrace a more diverse approach to her listening habits. “Pop music is the death of music and pop music is the worst and I hate it,” she recounts from her former viewpoint. “I was so anti, but I discovered a song by Billie Eilish and one by Lil Peep and I was putting my Spotify on private and listening to these songs.

In 2019 she released her debut Heartless EP under the name Cloudy Verdecia. Although in recent years it’s been taken down from streaming, it helped her to lean into the pop discipline and explore writing with other people. “It didn’t turn out as expected, and in hindsight I also think I just hadn’t reached my potential. I hadn’t found my sound yet,” she says.

Through continued exploration she met TVVINS, production duo Valentin Glage and Vincent Stefánsson. It marked a turning point for Verdecia as they played with subject matter and turn of phrase, complimenting her rock roots with a pop playfulness. One of the first songs they worked on together was “High Waist To Hell”, an instant assault of throbbing synth that encouraged Verdecia to start a conversation around her sexuality. “I would never have done that song a few years ago. I would have been the person like, eugh how can she use such a cool thing like AC/DC and ruin it,” she laughs. “But now I can listen to death metal and pop and I like everything and I feel like that’s much more of a good way.”

Verdecia released the single in April 2020, in the midst of pandemic panic. Initially questioning her timing, looking back now she realises that the space enabled her to quickly reach a large audience. “It was the smartest thing in that moment because people were at home, people were on the internet. I was at home. I had nothing else to do than my side-job and music,” she says.

A string of witty and bombastic singles followed, all released independently and supported by Verdecia’s tireless and illuminating TikToks. Tracks like “FU In My Head” and “Mommy Issues” burst with smart lyrics, elegant twists, sharp production and razor hooks. “I love finding these twists,” she smiles. “Sometimes I like to come in with a word-play thing and be like, I have this, what could it mean? It’s just a lot of puzzling then trying to find lines, coming up with melodies.”

Signing with Columbia in Germany, she flew to LA with TVVINS for writing sessions. Battling with a sense of imposter syndrome, Verdecia found herself in the room with fellow artist emlyn. “She was kinda like my idol. I was nervous to meet her,” she smiles. “She actually had the idea to write a song called “You Problem”.

Out today and featuring emlyn, “You Problem” is a riptide of empowerment and observational humour wrapped in vibrant melody, both singers complementing each other with a soulful rapport. “Men are like, ‘Women don’t want to go on dates with me,’ and it’s like, maybe it’s because you’re being so fucking aggressive about it? So maybe that’s a you problem!” she laughs.

As well as giving Verdecia the opportunity to call out misogynists on TikTok by way of promo, the collaboration reinforced her goal to build a platform outside of Germany. “I’m always thinking about my music being international and I feel like there’s so many artists who want to be international and it doesn’t work out. They try and they try and then they start doing music in German and it works,” she explains. “I was always like, I don’t want to do that. I want to do something that resonates with people everywhere.”