Cheesy 80’s: The Velveeta Story
In 1995, Brian Kriley, Brent Martin, and John Matthews decided to end their band,
Broken, a grunge rock band they said was meant to "change the world". Despite relative success, the musicians couldn't find enough success to live on. Trying to find a new niche, they recruited John Harper, and after a drunken conversation that began as a joke, Velveeta was born.
For Harper, this band has become more than a band, it has bonded these men in their music. Despite thinking this would be a one night only gig, Velveeta played their first gig together in The Brewery in July of 1995. The rest is history; the local State College band took the bar/party scene by storm, playing 80’s covers and gaining even more popularity. It was something
that wasn’t being done by anyone at the time, and in a matter of three
months, it exploded to the point where they were getting booked 3-4 times a
week.
The band provides for their families, the expenses, and has even had a role in making new families as they traveled around the East Coast for over two decades, rocking and rolling all night. The band has been together longer than their families, but for these four men, it's all in the same.
Although today they are self-admittedly not as wild as they were in the 90’s, they still bring energy to the stage and look to electrify crowds by singingsome of the biggest hits from the past, with their own little twists.
