INTERVIEW: Verskotzi Talks New Single And Video For “Better Get To Know Me”

Hi Joey, welcome to Tune Flickers! How’s life been treating you so far?

Thank you for having me! Life this year so far has been busy and ultimately good. Aside from the LA fires, 2025 is looking to be a year of positivity, peace, and endless possibilities. 

So you recently gifted us with a new music video for your song “Better Get To Know Me” – what was the filming experience like?

It was such a fun shoot! My film crew and I rented this awesome old church in downtown LA that was so perfect for what I had in mind. The trickiest part was getting the daylight and nighttime lighting timing just right. We had a certain amount of shots that required daylight and some that required total dark with only so much time to get it all. The use of the projector film montage shooting over me was another element that we couldn’t know for sure how well it would translate until we got there, but it was so perfect how it played off the brilliant church walls. 

By the title, I am guessing this was some kind of a personal song for you? Was it easy to open up?

Yeah, this song is very personal to me and has a very specific message within that only I would truly know. But it’s meant to also be widely ‘accessible’ in the sense that it has a message of universal love and healing in it. The notion that once we get to know our true Self with a capital ‘S’ we can then know the true love of the world and how that love exists in others and within us; that’s what it’s all about. It is never really easy to open up, but it’s what we have to do in order to let go of the heavy energy that is holding us back and keeping us tied to the past. It’s not easy, but so worth it and necessary. 

I understand you do a lot of meditation – how has this influenced your music?
Meditation has truly changed my life. When I first started researching meditation and spirituality as a practice back in 2020 when I decided to get sober, I would read things like that a lot… “meditation changed my life”. And while I, of course, latched on to such a grandiose statement like that and held it as an aspirational guiding sentiment, it truly took me about 4 years to actualize it in my own life. The way that it has influenced my music, primarily, is that it has cemented my trust in my Self as an artist. There’s a lot of letting go involved in spirituality and meditation. A big goal in that surrender is to take the peace and stillness of meditation into your daily duties of work, being a spouse, father/mother, part of your community, etc. There’s a tendency in a spiritual journey to want to withdraw from the world and reality in order to continue deepening that which you seek. But it’s so important to live out our human, physical lives, but charged with that rejuvenating energy we get in meditation that can then amplify our purpose in this life. And as an artist, I have been able to let go of a lot of self-inflicted and industry-inflicted doubt of who I am or ought to be. And arrived in a place of acceptance due to my meditation and spirituality that has truly set me free. Another way it has influenced my music is in the actual writing aspect, this new single being a perfect example. The outro chant section is a Sanskrit mantra ‘IDAM NA MAMA’; this translates to ‘This Is Not Mine’ and is a mantra for healing and letting go. 

You recently went back to your rock and roll and folk with your latest album SHIRING – what made you want to go back to your roots?
As crazy as it sounds, it was because of an art gallery exhibition I went to with my wife in January 2022. The artist on exhibit at the LACMA museum in LA was Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara. Nara makes childlike illustrations that are very politically charged and have an undercurrent of folk/rock/punk energy to them. I had been feeling lost in my own artistic path in recent years and thinking I needed to return to my original space of folk/rock, and as soon as I stepped foot in that gallery I knew exactly what my next album and overall path needed to be (and has always been). That day was the start of what would become the “SHIRING” LP and I’ll never forget it. There was a grounding sense to being immersed in Nara’s work that spoke to me; and it said, ‘Be yourself’. 

As an Angelino – does LA play any role in your music?
It absolutely does! I should say, I am originally from Minneapolis, MN and have now been an Angeleno for almost 8 years. Moving to LA was the best decision I’ve ever made for my career and I think, more importantly, for my personal life. LA is made up of the hardest working people on the planet. And I’m not just referring to the entertainment community. Everyone here is hustling day and night and there is a collective sense of honor, pride, and community within this city that we all love and adore. And specifically in the creative/entertainment community, you are surrounded by dreamers working their tails off to realize their full potential. It’s infectious, humbling, and highly inspirational. It’s so important to understand that we are not alone in the tumultuous climb of trying to make it in this industry. And because LA is filled with creatives that are grinding day and night, sharing their stories, gathering at events to connect, etc, you feel part of a very warm network of insanely talented people all trying to figure it out and keep their heads above water. 

How do you normally go on balancing both genres – do you tend to lean more into one than the other depending on the song’s themes?
This is a great question and one that I am constantly trying to understand myself! I think it’s all about letting each song direct the path and lead the way. There’s a funny thing that happens when you try to approach a song in some way that you imagine is going to be the direction it needs to take but then the song itself quickly shows you how wrong you are. A perfect example is this latest single “Better Get To Know Me”. It actually started as a minor key song, so there’s an entire version of it that sorta went a more sinister route. But as I explored it more and more, it just kept rejecting me (haha). There’s this unspeakable thing that happens when a song starts to click and you just feel it. I don’t know how to articulate it, but I think that’s because it’s impossible to describe. Trusting your intuition is the guiding force behind all creativity and that’s what I keep surrendering to each time I am given another song to write. 

What do you normally hope for people to walk out after hearing your music?
As I get older, I have begun to understand that my initial reason for writing music was to heal myself of past trauma and hurt. Or to grapple with big questions that I am struggling to make sense of. Within all of it, I am finding peace, healing, and love in my music through the songs I write. Finding God. I really believe that at the end of the day, my songs are ’embedded’ with that energy that can then hopefully do those things to the beautiful people that it reaches. I want people to feel inspired, hopeful, at peace, and a sense of healing. If they are angry or confused, that’s where the more rock leaning songs come into play in order to facilitate an energetic release and channel some of that darker energy into creativity and light. I’m just letting the muse of Spirit guide me more and more in my creative output and hoping that it brings others into this space of creativity, spirituality, and Spirit as a whole. 

What else is there in store for you?

2025 is set to be a year of writing, recording, and releasing music as consistently as possible. I have officially started writing what will be my 4th album, along with a series of stand alone singles that I am finishing right now. Be sure to follow me on my socials and sign up for my email list to keep up to date on my upcoming releases. And thank you so much again for having me and featuring my new video!