Freshman Nursing student Veronica Somers has dropped a Folk-Rock album entitled “Suburban Moon.”

“Music has always been something that has inspired me. I’m a very musically inclined person overall, and it’s just always been around me,” Somers said. 

Suburban Moon is an independent project in collaboration with friend Marc Chrupcala, and produced by her father Keith Somers, who has been in many bands throughout his life and has played a huge influence on Veronica and her music. 

“My dad also plays, he’s been playing in bands since he was my age, and he has always been a big influence on me because I wouldn’t have all the influences I have without him,” Somers said. 

The ten-track album has multiple standout songs. The opening track “Flying” is the main standout track. The Lyrics capture the feeling of being stuck between confidence and doubt. Somers feels both “lost and found,” struggling to find her path but feeling calm when alone. The line “flying with my feet on the ground” suggests she wants freedom but feels held back by her own insecurities. Despite these struggles, she refuses to give up, repeating that no one can “get me down.” 

Other standouts are tracks like “Spark” which reflect a search for hope and connection in a dark and painful time, with Somers longing to feel a “spark” that will bring light and meaning. 

“High Tide,” explores the feeling of being overwhelmed by indecision and confusion. As the “high tide” rises, Somers feels pressure to act and hopes for help to navigate the emotional challenges she faces. 

The album, blends pop, Americana, and rock elements, particularly a Fleetwood Mac-inspired body of work. 

“I feel like we tried to go for more of, like a folk kind of, like Americana, Fleetwood Mac-ish vibe,” said Somers. 

On a personal level, Somers has always been inspired by the likes of Amy Winehouse, Fiona Apple, Cheryl Crow, and Norah Jones. 

“There’s just something about their soulful voices that spoke to me, pulling me to listen. I think it’s also their authenticity, confidence, style, and strength that make them stand out so powerfully,” said Somers.

As a nursing major juggling the demanding work while putting out an album could be seen as a terribly challenging task, but Suburban Moon wasn’t created overnight, it was a year-and-a-half process, Somers explained how she struggled to find a balance in creating the album in her senior year of high school. 

“I was in high school at the same time when I was recording this album. So I was just trying to handle all of my classes and everything like that, alongside the music, and trying to make time for all that was definitely difficult,” said Somers. 

Yet her passion and drive for music and strong time management made the release of this album, that much easier. 

“It’s definitely been a lot of multitasking and time management and just prioritizing everything. But I mean, this album is really important to me and all of the songs and the time that it took to make it all so it was really important to me that I got everyone to hear it, even if it meant that I’d have to do a little extra work while managing my major,” said Somers. 

The songwriting process of this album was simple, yet very effective Chrupcala would come up with a guitar riff, or audio track, and Somers would sit on it and play it over and over until Somers found something that stuck to her. Somers would then write a melody and lyrics, Somers would wait a day, and if the song was still stuck in her head the next day, she would continue with the song. 

Somers plans to continue to make music, Somers wants to release solo work, but also more collaborative work with her father. 

“I’m always going to make music. I’ve been making music for years now, and I love also writing music with my dad, so I really hope that I can release something with him soon because we have a lot of original stuff,” said Somers.

Suburban Moon marks just the beginning for Somers. Balancing a challenging major and music, Somers has shown her dedication to Suburban Moon and looks forward to sharing more of her unique sound in the future. 

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