Why Buried In Verona - The "Band People Love To Hate" - Is Disbanding

"We started off just playing to five or six friends if we were lucky, who would come out to the dodgy little club shows and all that stuff we played," Brett Anderson, Buried In Verona's vocalist and sole constant member reflects as they undertake their final tour before disbanding.

"But from that, we got to tour the world, do records with amazing producers like Fredrik [Nordstrom] in Sweden, and Joey [Sturgis]; tour with some of our favourite bands at home and abroad, play massive festivals... Back when I started the band I wouldn't have thought we would achieve so much. So ending, knowing I did something a bit special with a big part of my life, and had a great time doing it [is great]."

"I just couldn't give BIV another two years of my life, especially now I'm married and have a child on the way."

Anderson plans to pursue side project Don't Die Like I Did - "very soft, dark rock, almost pop music" - sans industry pressures or deadlines. "I just couldn't give BIV another two years of my life, especially now I'm married and have a child on the way. I own my own business outside of the band, which is becoming quite successful. It came to the point where it was another record, or knuckle down in my personal life and try and get that more together so I can support myself later on. I gave it nine years and my best shot... With a lot of good times along the way."

ARIA chart positions and globe-trotting aside, their extensive ex-personnel list suggests a turbulent tenure. Near-crippling financial straits encountered a few years back (namely, alleged debts of almost $100,000) represent a career nadir. "That's the lowest point in probably band life and personal life. That rippled through band, personal lives, relationships... It really took its on toll on everyone that was in Buried In Verona, and was a major factor in some lingering bad memories that eventually caused people to just not be able to take any more."

They often channelled adversity into their music. Case in point - Maybe Next Time, the opening track on 2012's Notorious, a scathing assault on an unidentified target. Can Anderson finally reveal the subject of said venom? "No," he laughs. "It's too hectic to actually say a name. All I know is if he listened to that song, he would know. That was the main objective of that song. Someone did some horrible things to the band and legally nearly ended it out of bitterness... I think that song, for my sake, definitely had to be written."

Buried In Verona have inspired considerable vitriol from detractors; more so than the majority of home-grown heavy acts. "They'll be loving it," Anderson jokes. "There might be like a little party in every state, a 'thank fuck they're gone' thing. That'd be good, I might attend a couple... I can't think of anything we've done in our personal lives to reflect badly on the band, and I can't really think of anything we've done horribly wrong in the band. Maybe we were just that band people loved to hate for whatever reason."