Singapore-born, Naarm/Melbourne-based rock artist Sanny Veloo has had a long and winding journey through music. He started out in rebellious punk outfit Boredphucks that was banned from performing in Singapore and then went on to tour internationally with rock band EMPRA. Along the way, he’s run into obstacles with tragic life events taking him away from creative pursuits at different intervals. He was in a serious accident that nearly took away his ability to play music, he lost his best friend and musical soulmate and his late father went through a lengthy illness that required him and the whole family to pull together for his care. In essence, Veloo is entirely human and he pours his experiences into his songwriting… although it did take some dreamy intervention. Now, he’s released his debut solo album, I’ve Got You My Friend, which is a heartfelt collection of nine songs that explore well-worn themes of love and friendship and grief, as well as more timely matters of climate crisis and AI. With big choruses and soaring crescendos, these guitar-driven rock tracks drive into the heart of this artist’s life and everything he’s been through to date. By the end, listeners are left with a sense of comfort, connection and hope. For On The Record, we sat down with Sanny Veloo to discuss the transformative stories behind the album, how this loved ones made him the person he is today and why truly honest songwriting provides a path to healing.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with Sanny Veloo, can you introduce yourself?
Hey! I’m Sanny Veloo, a Singapore-born, Melbourne-based rock singer, songwriter and guitarist.
I write songs about life, love, friendship, relationships and the crazy world we live in, with big sing-along choruses and guitar solos, because that’s the kind of music I love!
I’ve been playing music for most of my life. I started out in Singapore in a punk band called Boredphucks. We made a bit of noise, got banned from performing, and that was my introduction to the music business! Haha.
I eventually moved to Australia and played in bands like The SUNS and EMPRA. I’ve been lucky enough to tour internationally, play some amazing shows and meet some incredible people along the way.
I’ve also had my fair share of setbacks. I had a serious accident that nearly ended my guitar-playing days, lost my best friend and musical soulmate, Wayne, and eventually stepped away from music to help care for my dad.
For a while, I genuinely thought my music career was over. But somehow, I found my way back, started writing songs again and eventually released my debut solo album, I’ve Got You My Friend, in November last year. And now I’m working on my second album, which I’m incredibly excited about!
Congratulations on the release of your debut album! How would you describe I’ve Got You My Friend in three words?
Love, grit and hope. I think those three words really capture what the album is about. There’s a lot of love in there, but not just romantic love. There’s friendship, family, heartbreak, grief, toxic relationships, losing people you care about and trying to make sense of this crazy world we live in.
I think making this album was my way of processing a lot of the personal experiences, heartbreak and trauma I’d been through over the years. But I didn’t want to make a depressing record! I wanted to make a rock album with big guitars, great melodies, catchy choruses and plenty of guitar solos. The kind of music I grew up listening to and still love today. And I wanted there to be a sense of hope running through it all. So yeah, love, grit and hope. Although I’d probably add LOUD, but you only gave me three words! Haha.
The title is instantly welcoming, so what does friendship mean to you on both a personal and creative level?
Friendship means everything to me. I think the older I get, the more I realise that the most precious things in life aren’t really things at all. It’s the people we love and the time we get to spend together.
I’ve been incredibly lucky to have some amazing friendships in my life, and some of my happiest memories are of making music with my friends.
My dear friend Wayne, who was the drummer in my band The SUNS, was my best friend in the entire world. He still is, in my heart. He was also my musical soulmate. We met in school, learned music together, wrote songs together, played in bands together, lived together and did all sorts of shit together! We were inseparable. We were like brothers. Some of the happiest moments of my life were spent making music with Wayne. When he died, a huge part of me died with him, and it took me a very long time to get back up from that. Losing someone that close really changes you. It made me realise how precious the time we have with the people we love is, and I’ve learned to cherish that so much more.
I’ve also had friends who’ve been there for me during some incredibly difficult times. When I had my accident and destroyed my elbow, my friend Justin came to visit me in hospital every single day. You never forget something like that. And I think those experiences have shaped the way I look at friendship, both personally and through my music.
What’s interesting about I’ve Got You My Friend is that when I sing it, it’s almost like the song is being sung to me. I was that guy in the song. I remember driving over a bridge, feeling incredibly depressed, wondering where the fuck my life had gone. I’d lost so much, and I genuinely didn’t know what to do next. And somehow, these words came into my head. I don’t know whether it was God, the universe or something else, but it felt like someone was telling me, “I’ve got you, my friend. You’re going to be okay.” And that’s how I feel when I sing it. It’s almost like I’m just the channel for that message. I hope people hear the song and feel that same sense of comfort.
As shitty as life can get sometimes, things can get better. Hang in there, reach out to your friends, ask for help when you need it and remember that you’re not alone. And I love that when we play it live, everyone can sing along together. There’s this big na-na-na section at the end, and it becomes a moment where the whole room is sharing the song. That’s one of my favourite things about music. Something that started as a very personal experience can suddenly bring a whole bunch of people together.
Currently, you’re based in Naarm/Melbourne, but you started your music career in your birthplace Singapore. How do the music scenes in those two places differ?
Singapore had an incredible music scene when I was growing up. There were so many great original bands playing punk, alternative rock, metal and all sorts of music. It was a really exciting time to discover music and start playing in bands. My first band was called Boredphucks, which probably tells you everything you need to know about us! Haha. We were young, loved making music and weren’t particularly interested in following the rules. We made a bit of noise and eventually got banned from performing in Singapore. But despite the challenges, there was a really strong sense of community. Bands supported each other, people came to shows and everyone was passionate about making their own music.
When I moved to Melbourne, I discovered a completely different music culture. Australia has such an incredible rock history. I’d grown up listening to bands like AC/DC, INXS and Silverchair, so it was pretty exciting to be living here. Melbourne has this wonderful live music culture, with so many venues, musicians and opportunities to get out and play. One of the things I love most is that you can walk into a pub on any given night and discover some amazing band you’ve never heard of. And I think that’s something really worth protecting, especially with so many live music venues struggling these days. I had a really special experience returning to Singapore in December 2024 for my first solo headline show there. We sold out The Projector, and it was such an emotional night for me. To go back to the place where it all began, after everything that had happened in between, and play my own songs to a room full of people was pretty incredible.
Singapore is where I discovered my love of music, and Melbourne is where I’ve grown as a musician and songwriter. Both places are a huge part of who I am.
Your motivation for coming back to music was connected to your late father, could you tell us more about that?
Yeah, absolutely. I stepped away from music for a while to help my mum look after my dad when he became very unwell. I’d been touring internationally with EMPRA, but things were getting really difficult at home, and I wanted to be there for my family. I spent a lot of time with my dad during the last few years of his life. There were many nights when I’d sleep on the sofa in his hospital room while he lay in bed. We’d talk about life, his experiences, the things he was proud of and some of the things he wished he’d done differently. It was heartbreaking watching him become so unwell, but I’m also incredibly grateful that I got to spend that time with him.
After he passed away, I felt really lost. I’d already lost Wayne, my best friend and musical soulmate, and I genuinely thought maybe that was it for my music career. I tried to move on. I was trying to get a proper job, making little guitar solo videos on Instagram, but something was missing. I didn’t know how to get back into music. I’d spent most of my life playing in bands, and suddenly I was on my own. The idea of starting again seemed incredibly daunting.
And then I had this amazing dream. In the dream, I saw my dad sitting in a pub, having a beer with a bunch of his friends who had also passed away. It was like a bar in heaven for dead guys! Haha. And he was dressed as a university professor, which was really interesting because my dad had been a social worker, but he’d always wanted to become a professor. He never got the opportunity. So seeing him like that made me really happy. Anyway, someone in the dream asked him, “Veloo, why are you here?” And my dad started telling everyone, “I’m here to see my son’s new band! My son is writing the best music of his life right now. You should stay and watch the gig!” I woke up in tears.
It was such a beautiful thing to hear, even if it was only in a dream. And I remember thinking, okay, maybe I should give this another go. So I started playing open mic nights around Melbourne, sometimes two or three times a week. And I absolutely loved it!
I’d toured America and played some pretty big shows, and here I was starting all over again, playing three songs to a handful of people in a pub. But there was something really wonderful about it. I wasn’t worried about selling tickets or trying to impress anyone. I was just enjoying playing music again. And slowly, things started coming together. I began writing more songs, met new musicians and eventually formed a new band. And here I am, working on my second solo album!
One song that’s directly related to the memory of your father is ‘Love Has Set You Free’. What was the process like of writing such an emotional track?
That song is incredibly personal to me. Losing my dad was one of the most heartbreaking experiences of my life, and it really changed the way I looked at love, grief and what it means to let someone go. I’d spent so much time with him during the last few years of his life, and we’d had all these conversations that really made me think about my own life. When he passed away, I was devastated. But I also started thinking about how fortunate I was to have had him in my life and how much love he’d given me. Love Has Set You Free came out of those feelings, and the dream I had about him was a big part of that inspiration.
I didn’t want to write a song that was just about sadness. I wanted it to capture the love I felt for him and the idea that even though someone is no longer physically with us, that love doesn’t just disappear. I’m quite spiritual in the way I look at life, and I believe there’s a lot more to our existence than we fully understand. And I think that’s why the song ended up being quite uplifting. There’s sadness underneath it, of course, but there’s also gratitude, acceptance and hope. That’s something I love about songwriting. Sometimes you can take something incredibly painful and turn it into something beautiful. And hopefully that song can bring some comfort to someone else who’s lost somebody they love.
Family is clearly an important theme to you as ‘Dear Rani’ is addressed to your mother, so do you think that music allows people to express themselves on a deeper level than they could through a regular conversation?
Oh, absolutely! My mum is the most beautiful person in the world. She’s without a doubt the strongest, most resilient and positive person I’ve ever met. The things she’s had to go through to raise us three boys, look after our family and deal with everything life has thrown at her are incredible. And somehow, through all of that, she’s remained this beacon of light in our family. She’s taught me what true kindness and compassion look like, and she’s a huge source of strength in my life.
When my dad became very sick, it was incredibly hard on Mum. That’s one of the reasons I stepped away from touring with EMPRA. I wanted to help her care for him. There were times when she was completely exhausted and would tell me she didn’t know if she could keep going. And I’d tell her, “Don’t worry, Mummy. We’ll help you look after Daddy.” My two brothers and I wanted her to know she wasn’t going through this alone. We’d take turns caring for Dad, and Mum and I would spend evenings together watching Netflix, usually horror movies or comedies, just having a laugh and taking our minds off everything.
Those little moments meant a lot to me. And I think that’s really where Dear Rani came from. Watching someone I love carry so much responsibility and wanting her to know how much I appreciated everything she’d done for us. I don’t think I could sit my mum down and say everything that’s in that song without getting terribly emotional! But somehow, when you put those feelings into music, you can express things you might struggle to say in an ordinary conversation. I think that’s one of the most beautiful things about songwriting. And I hope when people hear Dear Rani, they think about their own mums or the people who’ve been that source of love and strength in their lives.
We don’t always tell the people closest to us how much they mean to us. And we really should.
Alongside themes of friendship and family, you cover many aspects of the human condition and one song that really stands out is ‘I Don’t Believe The Truth’. Why did you decide to write about surveillance, AI and climate anxiety here?
Because we’ve created artificial intelligence, but we still haven’t solved human stupidity! Haha. Seriously, though. I think we’re living in an extraordinary time, and there are so many things happening around us that I find both fascinating and deeply worrying. We’ve got artificial intelligence advancing at an incredible rate, governments and corporations collecting enormous amounts of information about us, climate change, misinformation and all this political division. And sometimes I think, where the hell is all of this going? I’m actually fascinated by technology. I’m not against AI at all. I think it can do some incredible things. But I do wonder whether our technology is advancing faster than our ability to use it responsibly. And what really frustrates me is that despite all this incredible technology that’s supposed to connect us, we seem to be becoming more isolated and disconnected from each other.
We’re spending so much time staring at screens, arguing with strangers online and consuming endless amounts of information, half of which we don’t even know is true. And somewhere along the way, we’ve forgotten the importance of genuine human connection. I think we need to spend more time with the people we love. Get off your phones, go and see a band at your local pub, support artists, hang out with your friends, tell people you love them! Just get out into the world and connect with people. That’s what makes life worth living. And I think that’s really what inspired I Don’t Believe The Truth.
I’m not trying to tell people what to think. I’m just sharing my observations and frustrations with the world we’re living in. I’ve always had a rebellious streak. When I was younger, rebellion meant playing punk rock in Singapore and getting banned from performing. These days, I think singing about love, peace, truth, nonviolence, kindness and compassion is almost rebellious in itself. I don’t hear enough of those messages in popular music, and they’re things I genuinely believe in. And I’m not really interested in following trends. People tell you songs need to be three minutes long, you shouldn’t have guitar solos, and you need to make music for TikTok. I’m like, fuck all of that! I’m going to make the music I love. And if that means writing a big rock song about the madness of the modern world with a massive guitar solo, that’s exactly what I’m going to do!
What else do you hope listeners will take away from I’ve Got You My Friend?
First of all, I hope they enjoy the music! I love rock music. I love big guitars, catchy melodies, great choruses and guitar solos. I was a lead guitarist before I became a singer, and playing guitar is such an important part of how I express myself. To me, a great guitar solo is almost like a song within a song. When the lyrics run out, you can move into the guitar solo and take the song somewhere completely different. I’ve always loved melodic guitar playing, especially guitarists like Slash, Santana, Eddie Van Halen and John Mayer. And when it comes to songwriting, I love bands like Weezer, Oasis, Green Day and Foo Fighters. So I wanted to bring those things together on this album.
Big rock songs with memorable melodies, lyrics that mean something to me and plenty of guitar! But underneath all that, there are some pretty personal experiences. There’s heartbreak, losing people I love, friendship, family, difficult relationships and trying to make sense of the world. I think writing this album helped me process a lot of things I’d been carrying around for years. And now that it’s out there, I hope people can connect with the songs in their own way. I think we’re all going through something.
Sometimes life is wonderful, and sometimes it’s really fucking difficult. But I genuinely believe that even when things seem hopeless, there’s always the possibility of something better. And I think we need to hold on to that. I’m not saying everything magically works out. Sometimes it doesn’t. But we can support each other, show a little more kindness and compassion, and try to make things a little better for the people around us.
If someone hears one of my songs and feels a little more hopeful or a little less alone, that means a hell of a lot to me. And if they want to turn it up loud, sing along and play air guitar, even better!
Following the release of this album, what’s next on the horizon for you?
I’m already working on album number two, and I’m really excited about it! The first album was very personal. I think I was processing a lot of the heartbreak, grief, loss and trauma I’d experienced over the years leading up to it. And now that I’ve released it, toured it and promoted it as much as I possibly could, and as much as I could afford financially, I feel like I’ve reached a new chapter.
The second album is taking a much more outward view. There are still a couple of personal songs, but a lot of what I’m writing about now comes from looking at the world around me, what’s happening and some of the things that really frustrate me. Musically, it’s definitely heavier, more urgent and more epic. I’m moving towards a more focused alternative rock sound, but melody is still incredibly important to me. I want big choruses that people can remember and sing along to at shows, great guitar riffs and plenty of guitar solos. That’s never going away!
I’m also approaching the recording process a little differently this time. My first album was recorded partly at home and in home studios. For this album, I wanted to go into a really good recording studio, crank up the amps and capture a much more organic, analogue rock sound. I’m working with an experienced rock producer, using all this incredible studio gear, and I absolutely love it. I’ve also got Nate Barnes, who’s an amazing professional session drummer, playing on the record. I’m handling the guitars, bass and vocals myself, with a few friends contributing additional parts like tabla, sitar and synths. I’m really interested in experimenting with different sounds and textures this time around. I love some of the synth sounds The Weeknd uses, and I’m fascinated by the idea of incorporating those kinds of atmospheric and melodic textures into guitar-driven rock music. But I don’t want to sound like anybody else. I want to take all these influences and create something that feels like me. And I feel like the new material is becoming much more focused sonically. It’s heavier, it’s got more urgency, and I think the songs are sounding bigger and more exciting.
I’m also keen to keep growing my audience internationally, particularly in the US. I’ve toured there before with EMPRA, and I’d love to go back with my own music. But right now, my biggest priority is making a second album that absolutely kicks ass. I can’t wait for people to hear it!
You can also find title-track ‘I’ve Got You My Friend’ in our Indie Rockers playlist.
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