London post-punk/Krautrock trio Venn began in 2013 when vocalist/drummer Ben Leverock and guitarist Stuart Gardham met while auditioning for a short-lived band that split up just six months later when the other two members left to become electronica duo Shift Work. Leverock and Gardham had become friends and decided to continue working together, combining their significant experience: Leverock had previously recorded as Esser, Gardham in Interiors and La Haine. They self-produced their debut EP, Echoes from Foreign Spaces, and promoted it in unorthodox fashion by leaving copies in random locations (including HMV Oxford Street, the toilets of social club Soho House, and on the grave of Jack Kerouac in Lowell, Massachusetts) with a note inside asking finders to get in touch. The stunt worked, and buzz started to build up around their dark, brooding, propulsive music, influenced by the likes of Cluster, Suicide, Liars, and Wire. The band was completed in 2014 with the addition of keyboardist/bassist John Petrie, and the trio started to play gigs around London. That year Leverock also formed electro-house duo Host. Early in 2016 he married and moved to Berlin, but this did not stop Venn, who continued to collaborate over the Internet. That year they recorded and released two well-received EPs, Runes EP and RUNE002LP, on their own Rune label. Their growing popularity led to their signing by Full Time Hobby, which released their debut full-length album, also entitled Runes, early in 2017. ~ John D. Buchanan