#also the song is technically lost media as the full version has never been released

[lomotunes2008]

Fun cars toons fact: The song that plays at the end of Tokyo Mater is actually Korean instead of Japanese :)

[kingstylesdaily]

Harry Styles’ “Adore You” Is Everything a Music Video Should Be (Including Underappreciated by The VMAs)

KSD NOTE: there is a mention of suicide in regards to the beginning of Adore You.

On November 18, 2019, a website promoting a mysterious place called Eroda (“No Land Quite Like It”) arrived on the internet. Two days later, the official Twitter account for this fictional frown-shaped island began teasing local seaside attractions. You may have missed it, depending on which corners of the internet you choose to lurk, but not if you were a Harry Styles fan, a group that went into pure overdrive trying to figure out what it all meant.

I, for one, missed it at the time. I was unaware this account was cryptically quote tweeting fans as they tried to piece together what was happening, what it meant, and what it could be connected to (Greek Mythology and Lost were a couple of theories posed in comments, Twitter threads, and Reddit). Meanwhile, the Columbia Records marketing department had been hard at work for months, devising this specific and highly-detailed campaign around the music video for Styles’ second single, “Adore You” from his second solo album, Fine Line, ever since he shot the video in Scotland in August 2019 (Eroda = Adore backwards — clever!).

But it was all leading up to the morning of Friday, December 6 when the video was released, one week before the full-length album arrived. Up until that point, I had never seen an entire Harry Styles music video, but what happened next was inevitable. Somehow, as a self-proclaimed boy band scholar, I had never paid much attention to One Direction. I kept a distant eye on Styles since they disbanded, intrigued by the decisions he was making in his solo career. But I hadn’t yet realized I’d been in the ring all throughout the fall of 2019, fighting to resist the inevitable fascination that awaited. First came the jab of Rob Sheffield’s Rolling Stone profile, followed by the cross of “Lights Up”, a song that cracked my Top 20 most listened to songs of the year despite being released just two months before Spotify so thoughtfully compiled that personalized playlist. Then there was the hook of his SNL hosting stint in November (and bless you Bowen Yang for that Sara Lee sketch), which then leads us to the “Adore You” video, the uppercut and ultimate TKO. I surrendered in what felt like a near instant. I was now a Harry Styles fan. (If we’re following this analogy, I sat up to spit out some blood after seeing that cover of “Juice” before my head quickly hit the mat again with a loud thud).

Maybe it’s not quite remarkable that I took time out of a Friday morning to watch a music video, but that I sat at my desk, in an office, with other people around (back when we did those kinds of things) and proceeded to wipe away a few tiny tears from under my eyes by the end of it, was an experience I had not been through… maybe ever? In a world of lyric videos and TikToks, actual, thoughtful, impactful music videos with a full (and sweet!) story are about as rare as a glowing and growing fish these days.

Ultimately, “Adore You” does everything a music video should do. In nearly eight minutes, this video uses excellent visual effects in a cool and interesting way, tells a compelling and heartfelt story, is anchored by an irresistible leading man and an adorable sidekick, is backed up by the catchiest song you could ever dream of, and culminates with a touching and hopeful ending. It’s a treat for the eyes and the ears and the soul. It’s innovative and the kind of thing that begs you to watch it more than once to catch all the details (and yes, I do tear up every time).

So one would think that an award show with the specific purpose of celebrating this type of creativity would be extra sure to nominate such a charming and effective clip, but alas, “Adore You” was overlooked in the MTV Video Music Awards main categories this year. Of course, some could argue that that fact only adds to the video’s credibility but I’ll do my best to not be that petty as I’m still rooting for it to win in the three technical categories where it picked up nominations: Best Visual Effects by Mathematic, Best Art Direction by Laura Ellis Cricks, and Best Direction by Dave Meyers, who remains one of the most inventive and influential directors of all time and whose videos with artists such as Missy Elliot, Pink, and Kendrick Lamar have been racking up nominations for nearly 20 years now. He also saw four other videos he directed get recognized this year: Normani’s “Motivation” (Best Chorography), Travis Scott’s “Highest in the Room” (Best Hop Hop and Best Visual Effects), Anderson .Paak’s “Lockdown” (Video For Good), and Camila Cabello feat. DaBaby’s “My Oh My” (Best Cinematography).

But I reached out to Meyers to specifically ask about the intricate details of “Adore You” and how it all came to be; how he captured such a vibe with the overcast and dreary weather, mixed so wonderfully with the charming oddities of the people that make up this world of Eroda. In addition to directing the video, he also co-wrote the story with Chris Shafer and said, “It’s the first idea that popped to mind after the first listen to the song, and the first idea I pitched to Harry. It was a story that underscored my understanding of what Harry stood for and felt it was necessary to tell it as a narrative to convey his optimism.”

The extended version of the video starts with a two-and-a-half-minute introduction to the world of Eroda, narrated by Rosalia. This includes the “peculiar” people and their professions on the island, meeting The Boy (Styles) and his glowing smile that most people try to avoid, and the quirky superstitions these people continue to live by. “It all served a purpose,” Meyers said of the details. “The superstitions were a set up for how society generally reacts to different things. They fear change or oddity, even if it’s what’s best for them.”

Meyers, however, did not share in that fear, as much of this video provided for interesting and new opportunities he had yet to experience throughout his decades-long career, which he listed off: ”Compelling narrative, CG character, remote location, Scottish crew (nothing phased them),” also noting that all of the other characters in the video were locals as well. So perhaps they were less fazed by the atmosphere across the four-day shoot in Scotland, but as Meyers recalled, the “weather was nuts. It rained every 20 minutes, then the sun, then cloud over.”

However, it’s likely that Mother Nature is also a Styles fan, as Meyers recalled, “I seem to remember going up on the hill for Harry’s picnic with the fish and being worried that it was so gloomy. By the time we came to shoot, the sun came out. And then the sun went away as soon as the scene was over. Similarly, we had the worst storm when Harry was contemplating suicide at the start. Pouring rain, drenching him. So I guess in that sense it was fun watching how Scotland provided a backdrop for the emotions we were after.”

And hey, at least they had the weather on their side to add to the mood while shooting the video, as one of their main characters, well, didn’t exist. “It was very odd shooting with no fish,” Meyers admitted. “But was quite rewarding later seeing it dropped in and making empathic sense to the story we were after.”

Of course, the main character they did have on hand is an awfully useful and appealing one at that. Fans became enamored with the moment Styles uses the back of his hand to check the temperature of a coffee pot before dumping the fish inside the water so it could stay alive. I asked Meyers about this particular moment and he said, “The problem we had was apparent when Harry ran in and threw the fish in the pot. We all sorta felt — well, what if it was hot? So I believe Harry improvised that as a solution and we felt it was perfect for the character’s sensitivity and consideration for this poor fish.” And that’s not the only nice thing he does for his fish friend — he also serves him a tiny taco! “The taco was a whimsical way to express friendship between Harry and the fish,” Meyers offered. It looked pretty tasty, too.

The entire video serves as a showcase for what Styles does best and what makes him such a unique artist: his music, his acting, and his charisma, which Meyers knew would offer him a lot to work with. “Harry is a leading man. I felt that from my first meeting and wanted to play with his wonderful range of emotions. So finding a story with a real character arc was part of my focus in building this world.” Meyers described working on “Adore You” as an “all-around memorable shoot: awesome location, lovely Harry, compelling story, great effects, and… it worked.”

It did. And it was a risk: a video this complex and detailed (and one has to assume, costly), attached to a marketing campaign that proved to be even more involved, still came with no guarantee that the fans wouldn’t shrug it off. But as Manos Xanthogeorgis, SVP of Digital Marketing & Media at Columbia Records told Billboard last year, “When you have a video and a piece of art at such a level, it’s an incredible challenge for the rest of the team to build a campaign at that same level of artistry and creativity.” Oh, and that was only step one, as the marketing team engaged in “real-time marketing” with fans online, ensuring they would continue to remain engaged by dropping clues and clips in the lead-up to the video premiere and subsequently the album. “This whole campaign was around mystery and sometimes mystery is more powerful than knowledge,” Xanthogeorgis said. The Twitter handle has remained active throughout 2020, used as a continual marketing tool for Styles’ next videos including the Meyers-directed “Falling” and this summer’s hit, “Watermelon Sugar.”

With that kind of fan engagement, “Adore You” seemed like a no-brainer for the fan-voted categories of the VMAs this year, as they surely would’ve turned out to vote just as feverishly for this video as they did when searching for clues (about a made-up island, at that!). But hey, maybe MTV was just not interested in massive fan engagement this year — after all, it’s not like everything Styles does, including growing freakin’ facial hair, has the internet in a tizzy for weeks. Ultimately, as the impact of music videos (and certainly the ceremony celebrating them) continues to lose relevance, the disregard of this specific project simply feels like a missed opportunity to acknowledge a rare achievement in the art form.

While Meyers was sure to describe his inclusion in the VMA nominations this year as “lovely and flattering” (and he better have a moonperson in his possession this time next week, MTV!) it’s still puzzling why “Adore You” wouldn’t be included in the big categories, considering Styles is squarely within their demo, at the very least. That “Adore You” is also a technical and storytelling masterpiece, as well as a full moment that was used as inspiration both for the experience online and in-person at the Fine Line Spotify listening party last December, that also comes packed with one of the most enthusiastic groups of fans around, well, that should have had the entire network drooling.

Of course, some of this can simply be chalked up to a perfect storm. As far as his singles go, “Lights Up” was a nice appetizer, but “Adore You” remains the delicious entree (you already know what’s for dessert). “Adore You” is a perfect pop record if I’ve ever heard one (and I have) and deserved a special video. A Chris Isaak “Wicked Game” sexy vibe wasn’t going to work here. The song tells the story of such passionate, pure, and heartachingly naive and innocent love that it almost had to be directed toward a non-human being. Instead, Styles chose to inject those same carefree, sweaty, sticky, delicious, whimsical beach vibes into the “Watermelon Sugar” clip, which was the right choice, and not just for the summertime season (MTV has since added the Song of Summer category to the VMAs and included “Watermelon Sugar”).

But it’s “Adore You” that has melodies that bring a smile to the faces of babies, get your toes tapping even when you hear it in the dentist’s chair, and likely has my neighbors rolling their eyes when I sing along to it in the shower. The song is so simple it’s deep, a theme reflected in the video, as is the central reminder to help and care for others, a thoroughly 2020 message.

However, not all is lost. Both “Adore You” and “Watermelon Sugar” continue to rack up major spins at radio with the latter hitting number one on the Billboard charts earlier this month. Grammy voting kicks off at the end of September and Academy members should take note. Not only is Fine Line more than worthy of being acknowledged, but having Styles on hand to potentially collect trophies and perform is in your best interest when it comes to viewers and online chatter. Do not wait to take him seriously. This is the album, this is the time. Prove that you aren’t a bunch of stodgy old white men who think he’s just for teen (and um, thirty-something) girls, but that you understand the music he enjoys, is inspired by, and subsequently makes, is the same rock music you appreciate as well. An artist like Styles can be both of those things at the same time, and really, the best of both worlds. Give the album a listen, and then one more to let it all sink in. If you have not yet succumbed to the force that is Harry Styles fandom, I truly can’t recommend it enough — and please know that it will get you eventually.

Source: Decider.com

[stylesnews]

On November 18, 2019, a website promoting a mysterious place called Eroda (“No Land Quite Like It”) arrived on the internet. Two days later, the official Twitter account for this fictional frown-shaped island began teasing local seaside attractions. You may have missed it, depending on which corners of the internet you choose to lurk, but not if you were a Harry Styles fan, a group that went into pure overdrive trying to figure out what it all meant.

I, for one, missed it at the time. I was unaware this account was cryptically quote tweeting fans as they tried to piece together what was happening, what it meant, and what it could be connected to (Greek Mythology and Lost were a couple of theories posed in comments, Twitter threads, and Reddit). Meanwhile, the Columbia Records marketing department had been hard at work for months, devising this specific and highly-detailed campaign around the music video for Styles’ second single, “Adore You” from his second solo album, Fine Line, ever since he shot the video in Scotland in August 2019 (Eroda = Adore backwards — clever!).

But it was all leading up to the morning of Friday, December 6 when the video was released, one week before the full-length album arrived. Up until that point, I had never seen an entire Harry Styles music video, but what happened next was inevitable. Somehow, as a self-proclaimed boy band scholar, I had never paid much attention to One Direction. I kept a distant eye on Styles since they disbanded, intrigued by the decisions he was making in his solo career. But I hadn’t yet realized I’d been in the ring all throughout the fall of 2019, fighting to resist the inevitable fascination that awaited. First came the jab of Rob Sheffield’s Rolling Stone profile, followed by the cross of “Lights Up”, a song that cracked my Top 20 most listened to songs of the year despite being released just two months before Spotify so thoughtfully compiled that personalized playlist. Then there was the hook of his SNL hosting stint in November (and bless you Bowen Yang for that Sara Lee sketch), which then leads us to the “Adore You” video, the uppercut and ultimate TKO. I surrendered in what felt like a near instant. I was now a Harry Styles fan. (If we’re following this analogy, I sat up to spit out some blood after seeing that cover of “Juice” before my head quickly hit the mat again with a loud thud).

Maybe it’s not quite remarkable that I took time out of a Friday morning to watch a music video, but that I sat at my desk, in an office, with other people around (back when we did those kinds of things) and proceeded to wipe away a few tiny tears from under my eyes by the end of it, was an experience I had not been through… maybe ever? In a world of lyric videos and TikToks, actual, thoughtful, impactful music videos with a full (and sweet!) story are about as rare as a glowing and growing fish these days.

Ultimately, “Adore You” does everything a music video should do. In nearly eight minutes, this video uses excellent visual effects in a cool and interesting way, tells a compelling and heartfelt story, is anchored by an irresistible leading man and an adorable sidekick, is backed up by the catchiest song you could ever dream of, and culminates with a touching and hopeful ending. It’s a treat for the eyes and the ears and the soul. It’s innovative and the kind of thing that begs you to watch it more than once to catch all the details (and yes, I do tear up every time).

So one would think that an award show with the specific purpose of celebrating this type of creativity would be extra sure to nominate such a charming and effective clip, but alas, “Adore You” was overlooked in the MTV Video Music Awards main categories this year. Of course, some could argue that that fact only adds to the video’s credibility but I’ll do my best to not be that petty as I’m still rooting for it to win in the three technical categories where it picked up nominations: Best Visual Effects by Mathematic, Best Art Direction by Laura Ellis Cricks, and Best Direction by Dave Meyers, who remains one of the most inventive and influential directors of all time and whose videos with artists such as Missy Elliot, Pink, and Kendrick Lamar have been racking up nominations for nearly 20 years now. He also saw four other videos he directed get recognized this year: Normani’s “Motivation” (Best Chorography), Travis Scott’s “Highest in the Room” (Best Hop Hop and Best Visual Effects), Anderson .Paak’s “Lockdown” (Video For Good), and Camila Cabello feat. DaBaby’s “My Oh My” (Best Cinematography).

But I reached out to Meyers to specifically ask about the intricate details of “Adore You” and how it all came to be; how he captured such a vibe with the overcast and dreary weather, mixed so wonderfully with the charming oddities of the people that make up this world of Eroda. In addition to directing the video, he also co-wrote the story with Chris Shafer and said, “It’s the first idea that popped to mind after the first listen to the song, and the first idea I pitched to Harry. It was a story that underscored my understanding of what Harry stood for and felt it was necessary to tell it as a narrative to convey his optimism.”

The extended version of the video starts with a two-and-a-half-minute introduction to the world of Eroda, narrated by Rosalia. This includes the “peculiar” people and their professions on the island, meeting The Boy (Styles) and his glowing smile that most people try to avoid, and the quirky superstitions these people continue to live by. “It all served a purpose,” Meyers said of the details. “The superstitions were a set up for how society generally reacts to different things. They fear change or oddity, even if it’s what’s best for them.”

Meyers, however, did not share in that fear, as much of this video provided for interesting and new opportunities he had yet to experience throughout his decades-long career, which he listed off: ”Compelling narrative, CG character, remote location, Scottish crew (nothing fazed them),” also noting that all of the other characters in the video were locals as well. So perhaps they were less fazed by the atmosphere across the four-day shoot in Scotland, but as Meyers recalled, the “weather was nuts. It rained every 20 minutes, then the sun, then cloud over.”

However, it’s likely that Mother Nature is also a Styles fan, as Meyers recalled, “I seem to remember going up on the hill for Harry’s picnic with the fish and being worried that it was so gloomy. By the time we came to shoot, the sun came out. And then the sun went away as soon as the scene was over. Similarly, we had the worst storm when Harry was contemplating suicide at the start. Pouring rain, drenching him. So I guess in that sense it was fun watching how Scotland provided a backdrop for the emotions we were after.”

And hey, at least they had the weather on their side to add to the mood while shooting the video, as one of their main characters, well, didn’t exist. “It was very odd shooting with no fish,” Meyers admitted. “But was quite rewarding later seeing it dropped in and making empathic sense to the story we were after.”

Of course, the main character they did have on hand is an awfully useful and appealing one at that. Fans became enamored with the moment Styles uses the back of his hand to check the temperature of a coffee pot before dumping the fish inside the water so it could stay alive. I asked Meyers about this particular moment and he said, “The problem we had was apparent when Harry ran in and threw the fish in the pot. We all sorta felt — well, what if it was hot? So I believe Harry improvised that as a solution and we felt it was perfect for the character’s sensitivity and consideration for this poor fish.” And that’s not the only nice thing he does for his fish friend — he also serves him a tiny taco! “The taco was a whimsical way to express friendship between Harry and the fish,” Meyers offered. It looked pretty tasty, too.

The entire video serves as a showcase for what Styles does best and what makes him such a unique artist: his music, his acting, and his charisma, which Meyers knew would offer him a lot to work with. “Harry is a leading man. I felt that from my first meeting and wanted to play with his wonderful range of emotions. So finding a story with a real character arc was part of my focus in building this world.” Meyers described working on “Adore You” as an “all-around memorable shoot: awesome location, lovely Harry, compelling story, great effects, and… it worked.”

It did. And it was a risk: a video this complex and detailed (and one has to assume, costly), attached to a marketing campaign that proved to be even more involved, still came with no guarantee that the fans wouldn’t shrug it off. But as Manos Xanthogeorgis, SVP of Digital Marketing & Media at Columbia Records told Billboard last year, “When you have a video and a piece of art at such a level, it’s an incredible challenge for the rest of the team to build a campaign at that same level of artistry and creativity.” Oh, and that was only step one, as the marketing team engaged in “real-time marketing” with fans online, ensuring they would continue to remain engaged by dropping clues and clips in the lead-up to the video premiere and subsequently the album. “This whole campaign was around mystery and sometimes mystery is more powerful than knowledge,” Xanthogeorgis said. The Twitter handle has remained active throughout 2020, used as a continual marketing tool for Styles’ next videos including the Meyers-directed “Falling” and this summer’s hit, “Watermelon Sugar.”

With that kind of fan engagement, “Adore You” seemed like a no-brainer for the fan-voted categories of the VMAs this year, as they surely would’ve turned out to vote just as feverishly for this video as they did when searching for clues (about a made-up island, at that!). But hey, maybe MTV was just not interested in massive fan engagement this year — after all, it’s not like everything Styles does, including growing freakin’ facial hair, has the internet in a tizzy for weeks. Ultimately, as the impact of music videos (and certainly the ceremony celebrating them) continues to lose relevance, the disregard of this specific project simply feels like a missed opportunity to acknowledge a rare achievement in the art form.

While Meyers was sure to describe his inclusion in the VMA nominations this year as “lovely and flattering” (and he better have a moonperson in his possession this time next week, MTV!) it’s still puzzling why “Adore You” wouldn’t be included in the big categories, considering Styles is squarely within their demo, at the very least. That “Adore You” is also a technical and storytelling masterpiece, as well as a full moment that was used as inspiration both for the experience online and in-person at the Fine Line Spotify listening party last December, that also comes packed with one of the most enthusiastic groups of fans around, well, that should have had the entire network drooling.

Of course, some of this can simply be chalked up to a perfect storm. As far as his singles go, “Lights Up” was a nice appetizer, but “Adore You” remains the delicious entree (you already know what’s for dessert). “Adore You” is a perfect pop record if I’ve ever heard one (and I have) and deserved a special video. A Chris Isaak “Wicked Game” sexy vibe wasn’t going to work here. The song tells the story of such passionate, pure, and heartachingly naive and innocent love that it almost had to be directed toward a non-human being. Instead, Styles chose to inject those same carefree, sweaty, sticky, delicious, whimsical beach vibes into the “Watermelon Sugar” clip, which was the right choice, and not just for the summertime season (MTV has since added the Song of Summer category to the VMAs and included “Watermelon Sugar”).

But it’s “Adore You” that has melodies that bring a smile to the faces of babies, get your toes tapping even when you hear it in the dentist’s chair, and likely has my neighbors rolling their eyes when I sing along to it in the shower. The song is so simple it’s deep, a theme reflected in the video, as is the central reminder to help and care for others, a thoroughly 2020 message.

However, not all is lost. Both “Adore You” and “Watermelon Sugar” continue to rack up major spins at radio with the latter hitting number one on the Billboard charts earlier this month. Grammy voting kicks off at the end of September and Academy members should take note. Not only is Fine Line more than worthy of being acknowledged, but having Styles on hand to potentially collect trophies and perform is in your best interest when it comes to viewers and online chatter. Do not wait to take him seriously. This is the album, this is the time. Prove that you aren’t a bunch of stodgy old white men who think he’s just for teen (and um, thirty-something) girls, but that you understand the music he enjoys, is inspired by, and subsequently makes, is the same rock music you appreciate as well. An artist like Styles can be both of those things at the same time, and really, the best of both worlds. Give the album a listen, and then one more to let it all sink in. If you have not yet succumbed to the force that is Harry Styles fandom, I truly can’t recommend it enough — and please know that it will get you eventually. 

[hetmusic]

Q&A with Seramic | HumanHuman

Anonymity, mystery, surprise releases; all these things are liable to cause a buzz amongst the blogosphere and our community of discoverers, but the only way to keep the momentum going is with quality music. That’s exactly what Seramic has done, because although his tracks are fronted by abstract cover art and his social media is devoid of a tangible biography, it’s the finely produced and impeccably well-written soulful songs that keep the ever-hungry citizens of new-music-topia coming back for more.

Discovered by Going Solo six months ago, the silver-toned singer was labelled as a Promising Artist almost instantly, and once again our users were right to agree. Seramic’s highly-anticipated first EP has now been released to much-deserved praise. Here, this veiled musician answers a few of our questions about this new project, playing live, keeping hush, and his main influences.

First of all, I have to say that I caught your show at The Great Escape last month, and was truly blown away! What was that show like from your perspective?

Thanks, it was a really fun show despite some technical difficulties, it was nice to play to such a full room at 5.30 in the afternoon.

You appear to be very at home on stage, would that be a fair assumption?

I love performing, I really enjoy the chaos of it and getting lost in the moment.

Of course, gigs are an opportunity to see you in person as so far no photos have accompanied the music. You reportedly told Pigeons and Planes that “I just want the music to speak for itself for now”, so do you think taking the anonymous route has achieved that?

It's great to get such a positive response at this early stage, it's really encouraging. This feels very much like a project to me so I just wanted the focus to be on the work without distractions and we seem to be achieving that which is great.

Are there any special meanings behind the abstract artwork you’ve chosen to front each song?

All the artworks are made by friends and people I admire. The images made sense to me and felt right. The Seramic aesthetic is something that is in constant development like the music which I'm really enjoying.

“We should talk about nu-soul, but this song is definitely far more than that, thanks to its spiritual aura and huge gospel chorus that flash the listener in a NYC-Harlem’s church.”— Going Solo on “People Say”

Your debut “People Say” seems to center around the theme of people handing out advice or thinking they know you best, but what’s one recurrent thing people have been saying about or to you recently?

Lots of nice things which is great.

That was your first song, released just five months ago, but how long have you been planning and working on this project?

I guess the project really started about a year ago when I decided to make something different and explore new territory.

Did you expect to receive such positive feedback and relative popularity in that short space of time?

I was really overwhelmed when people started making the connections to some of my heroes and hearing all those influences in the music. I just hope it keeps building, I have a lot of music to put out.

“Seramic manages to renew his style with every track he puts out. Putting forward different aspects of his songwriting at the forefront of the creative process, he can only shine.”— Sodwee

All of your music is heavily saturated in soul and blues, why are you drawn to these styles?

I grew up listening to that music. My first show I went to see was Buddy Guy when I was twelve and he went into the crowd shredding on his guitar and went right up to me and that was a very influential moment.

For me, your music is comparable to modern soul acts like Nick Hakim and Honne. Are there any contemporary soul and/or blues artists that you’re particularly excited about at the moment?

I love Nick Hakim. There is loads of great music coming out at the moment, it's an exciting time. I was really blown away by the Anderson Paak record. I'm really influenced by my friends. I'm still hunting for old records, it's endless!

Aside from those genres, which influences have been significant to your music?

I’ve actually found that I don’t really group music into genres. I'm really effected by songs wherever they came from in all different kinds of styles. I guess songs are significant to me in and of themselves, rather than being part of a bigger picture.

“Waiting” diverges into more of a funk sound, led by a grooving bass line. Was there an inspiration behind this funk-leaning single?

Sly and the family Stone has been a huge influence on this project so there will be a lot more funk inspired tunes coming in the near future. I just love the dirtiness of those records which is something that I want to hopefully promote on my records and in the live shows.

A song like “Waiting” is noticeable rich in instrumentation and I’ve seen it for myself that you can play a fair few instruments. Did you play everything on the recorded versions?

Myself and Carrasius Gold, my producer, played all the instruments apart from bass which was played by the greatest bass player in the world.

How about production? It seems increasingly common for artists to self-produce or at least to have a hand in it.

I co-produced the EP with my producer Carrasius Gold who is truly amazing.

“It ensures that Seramic won't be forgotten about soon, and if he can continue this level of musical quality up, he'll be one of the most prominent new acts in no time.”— Hillydilly on “Found”

One of the strongest elements of your music is your voice, which in the opening line of “Found” hits like a wave. Have you always been aware of this vocal talent?

I grew up listening to a lot of gospel music which affected my vocal tone massively. All my influences have very distinct voices so that is something I aspire to.

Let’s talk about the final song to complete your four-track EP, “The Things You Do”, probably the most positive and even blissful of the four songs. How would you describe it?

Yes, it’s definitely more upbeat!

As a whole, the EP seems to connect the chapters of an individual’s search for love, is that the story? Or perhaps it’s something else entirely?

I guess your interpretation is as good as mine.

“Soul has never sounded this energetic, with each instrument trying to win over his voice (and failing at that b/c what a voice!).”— Disco Naïveté on Found EP

I would say it’s been a pretty great year for Seramic, what has been your highlight?

It has! And we’re only just halfway. I feel like it's just getting started, I have been really lucky to work with such amazingly talented musicians and producers, so I guess some of my sessions with them have been the highlight. I am also really enjoying playing live again after such a long time.

What are you most looking forward to for the rest of the year?

I'm really looking forward to putting out some new music and playing lots of festivals and finding more people who can connect with what we are doing.

https://humanhuman.com/articles/interview-seramic

[jessekg]

The long, complicated history of Baby Shark — and the artist fighting for credit Social Sharing

The first time Johnny Only heard the song Baby Shark was more than 20 years ago. Only, a children's entertainer based in Upstate New York, was a DJ at a kids camp, and the counselors would regularly perform the song with their campers, acting out the hand gestures and going through each verse.

Only saw how engaged and animated the campers were when Baby Shark was performed, so when he became a full-time children's entertainer, he released his own version.

That was in 2011, five years before another version of Baby Shark became a global phenomenon.

If you're a parent with a child under, say, five or six, you know this song. It's the same song that plays in your head on an endless rotation and wakes you up from an already light sleep. Over an upbeat, K Pop-style beat, we meet a family of sharks, beginning with, of course, "Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo." So simple and catchy in its premise, once it gets into your head, it never leaves.

Even if you're not a parent, there's still a good chance you are one of the more than two billion people on the planet who have seen the video, or among the countless millions who have watched someone do the #Babysharkchallenge. In just a few short years, Baby Shark has become one of the 30 most watched YouTube videos in the platform's history.

The song, released in 2016 by Korean children's entertainment brand Pinkfong, which is owned by the Seoul-based company SmartStudy, has been performed by the most popular K-Pop acts; featured by Ellen Degeneres; covered by Josh Groban, Sophie Turner and James Corden on The Late Late Show; and mentioned on social media by the likes of Cardi B and Kendall Jenner. Earlier this month, it cracked the Billboard Top 40, making it a traditionally certifiable hit. This past summer, it also hit the U.K. singles chart, where it peaked at number six.

Johnny Only, whose original version of Baby Shark has amassed more than 82,000 views on YouTube, watched this all unfold with a bit of disbelief. "Didn't this sound just like his version of Baby Shark?" he thought.

"Their version does seem strikingly similar to mine," he says. "Same key, same tempo change, same melody and rhythm."

Technically no one owns the song because it's classified as a traditional, he adds, or so he initially thought. Like all traditional songs, Baby Shark has been passed down orally through generations, surviving in the camp communities all around the world, and dates back to at least the 1900s.

Now the hit song is before the Korean courts in a copyright battle between Only and SmartStudy/Pinkfong in order to determine who, if anyone, own the rights to the current version of Baby Shark.

SmartStudy, for its part, insists that they have full ownership of the song. "Produced by SmartStudy, we are the producer and publisher, we own and control 100 percent of the song," writes Seunghyun Kevin Yoon, marketing manager for SmartStudy, in an email exchange.

The case is still with the courts and, according to Only, has been delayed twice.

Getting political

Only always assumed that Baby Shark, being a traditional song, was in the public domain, so open to anybody to use — that is, until the Liberty Korea Party, a right-wing party in South Korea, wanted to use Baby Shark to promote its candidates' campaigns in 2018, when they contacted Only and asked for permission to use it.

Suddenly I am on the South Korean news and I start getting comments in Korean on my YouTube video.- Johnny Only

"I didn't think I had any choice but to answer that it was public domain and they could go right ahead and use it," Only says.

After Liberty Korea released its version, SmartStudy threatened legal action over copyright infringement, to which their reply was: Baby Shark is a folk song, and they had permission from Johnny Only, who owned the copyright to the version he released in 2011.

"Suddenly I am on the South Korean news and I start getting comments in Korean on my YouTube video," says Only.

As soon issues arose over copyright of Baby Shark in Korea, musician Johnny Only's YouTube page was flooded with comments from Koreans, most in support of his claim to the song. (YouTube/Johnny Only)

"Please do not forget to take legal action," one commenter wrote last summer in roughly translated Korean, while another wrote in English, "As I am a Korean, I am disgraceful to this case. Last, I am sorry."

Only says that it was only then that he realized he had some rights. "The wheels in my head start turning, if Pinkfong's song is so close to mine that they can't even tell the difference, and Pinkfong tries to claim copyright infringement against their version when the political party is using my version, doesn't that mean that my version also has copyright protection?"

The musician contacted a Korean copyright lawyer last year, and "now we are simply asking the Korean courts to give us a ruling on what they think regarding the issue between Pinkfong and my version."

Traditional songs

It's actually very common, particularly in the children's music genre, for traditional songs to be released and performed by various artists, with each one putting their own stamp on it.

"One of the characteristics of folk music is that is ultimately adaptable," says Bram Morrison, of Sharon, Lois and Bram, the popular Canadian group. "[Baby Shark] is a classic example of a zipper song — that is, a song that is repetitive, and allows singers to insert their own thoughts into the verses, and always coming back to the repeated chorus. Sharon, Lois & Bram have done exactly this on many occasions. It's interesting that this one, which is pretty good, should catch the attention and go to where it is."

Baby Shark is as old as fairy tales. It is as old as the as the spoken tradition.  - Johnny Only

Morrison provides the example Peanut Butter, a song that was "taught to me by a fifth grade class years before even Sharon, Lois and Bram, and I brought it to the group and we put it out and it's one of the favourites."

He says that as artists release their own versions of traditional songs, in cases where they change the arrangement significantly, they can claim a copyright — not on the authorship of the song, but on the arrangement.

"Skinnamarink, that's a camp song as far as I know," he adds. "We made an arrangement for it and it's kind of a unique and elaborate arrangement that is ours, so when we put it on a recording, when it comes time to pay royalties, we would get the recognition financially for the arrangement, which is calculated at 50 percent."

Only says that "[Baby Shark] is as old as fairy tales. It is as old as the as the spoken tradition. And that's how it was passed from camper to camper, from camp to camp, from country to country. That's why we have a German version. That's why the German version was significantly the same as the American. Any country that has camps would have these formulas for how to engage kids, and certain themes would start to emerge that might be used year after year."

And this is where Only has a point of contention with the Pinkfong version of Baby Shark: he claims he is the one who turned it from that oral tradition, passed down through camps, where campers are encouraged to improvise lyrics and dance moves, into the song it is today.

Sanitizing Baby Shark

As Only heard it some 20 years ago, Baby Shark was all about the shark attack itself, and it was common for the song to lay out, in gory detail, the effects of such an attack.

"There was none of this, I'm happy pastoral scene that we see now," he says. "If the shark attacked and got their arm, lost an arm, doo doo doo, and they hold their arm behind their back. Lost a leg, now they're hopping around on one leg. Lost a head, blood streaming, screaming for help, or then, you know, a heart attack or maybe they're trying to revive him with CPR or something like that. Different hand motions each time and you just keep going as far as the imagination can take you."

​

When Only became a performer for toddlers, he remembered how engaged the campers were with Baby Shark, but he needed to create a more sanitized version, as "the lyrics were completely inappropriate," he says. Only removed the shark attack and the focus became the family unit.

"I patterned it off of a famous children's toddler artist, Raffi," he says. "If you listen to Raffi material, there is absolutely nothing that would offend any grownup or any parent of a child. It's just so pastorally clean, and as far as I could tell on the internet, I was the first one that did that, you know? And basically Pinkfong's version does the same thing."

Yoon, SmartStudy's marketing manager, writes that "we took a fresh twist and recreated on a traditional singalong chant by adding upbeat rhythms and fresh melody. We have a team of content creators based in South Korea that plans and directs the design, choreography, storyboarding and localization of Pinkfong's content."

The company currently has over 100 versions of Baby Shark, which includes translations in 11 languages. They also put on a Baby Shark live show around the world and have plans to make a Baby Shark movie, as well as a line of toys in partnership with brands like Hasbro and Spin Master, the Canadian company behind the hit show Paw Patrol.  

If you look up Baby Shark on Wikipedia, my name used to be on there- Johnny Only

​While Only waits for a trial date, he is dismayed that his efforts have more or less been written out of the Baby Shark history.

"There's the viral video on Facebook where the little girl is asking for Baby Shark on Alexa. Have you seen that one?" he asks. "Alexa can't understand her because she is a toddler, and so Alexa is trying to play the correct version of Baby Shark. Interestingly enough, Alexa starts playing my version of Baby Shark but then the parent intervenes and it gets Alexa to play the Pinkfong version. … I have had that forwarded to me at least 30 times."

Only says he's not sure where a lawsuit will lead, but adds, "I think every artist wants to be recognized for what they've done.

"If you look up Baby Shark on Wikipedia, my name used to be on there as someone who had recorded it, and now my name is not on the Baby Shark song page, you know?" he says. "And I do feel that with regard to making the camp chat into a toddler friendly song, I really feel like I did have a big part of that. I think it could be argued that I was the first one that did it."

To listen to the audio version of this story on CBC Radio 1, click here

[rockrevoltmagazine]

Ohio band A Sense of Purpose brought in the crowd for the release show of their new EP, Mend. Applause and cheers broke out as they approached the stage to set up their gear. Kicking off, the band brought awesome energy and life to their new songs; they played some new tracks mixed with fan favorites. Throughout the set, the crowd was incredibly lively; jumping and moshing to the beats. I had the opportunity to sit down with the entire band for a conversation about the band and their new EP.

  Why don’t you guys go around and introduce yourselves and your role in the band.

My name is Seth and I play bass.

I’m John, I’m the vocalist.

I’m Chris, I’m the guitarist and vocalist.

I’m Nick and I’m the drummer.

I’m Kyle and I play guitar and kind of yell at everyone I guess. Band dad.

  How are you feeling about the reception for your EP Mend coming out?

Nick: Haven’t seen any trashy things yet haha.

Seth: Generally I feel like it’s been well received, but that’s just based off of like, social media posts or people just coming up and talking to you about it.

John: Yeah, I guess that remains to be seen. Maybe we’ll find out tonight; we’re playing a lot of these songs for the first time.

Kyle: It’s kind of hard to really build I guess a concrete set of expectations too; previous singles do kind of okay, but we don’t really know what to expect in any real sense. Anything that happens is just a good feeling at this point.

Seth: Yeah, all specific responses I’ve gotten on it so far have been generally very positive, so I think that’s a good sign.

Good! Everything I’ve seen has been really positive. So, congratulations on that guys!

  All: Thank you!

Chris: Hey I own that hat [referring to the Sorry Mom hat I was wearing].

  Haha, everybody owns this hat. It’s a fantastic hat. It’s funny because I’ve had multiple people come up to me, and when they don’t know the band they see ‘sorry mom’ written on the back and they’re like ahhhh thats hilarious! I’m like ha yeah… it’s actually a band though you should check them out… Well… was a band.

  All: Yeah hahaha, RIP.

In writing this EP has there been any difference in your creative process from previous work to this new record?

  Nick: We did drums last this time.

John: Seth wrote more lyrics, I think.

Seth: Yeah, maybe just lyrically I kind of chipped in a little bit to take the load off of Chris with the recording process.

  Gotcha, so Chris you’re the primary writer?

Chris: Yeah. Writing this time around I tried to have a little more focus, direction, more cohesive song writing; a little less extravagant and progressive… Only a little haha. It still gets kind of proggy and technical, but I think the songs are just more focused, heavier emphasis on melody, more hooks, more singing than previous stuff. NO guitar solos, actually. We went from… a LOT of guitar solos to.. None.

Seth: Yeah haha, I think every track on our last record had one. All of them. Also no real breakdown-type parts on this record.

John: Yeah not really, it’s more groovy. It may come off as lighter to some people haha. Some kind of like, heavy purists have commented but like it’s all been positive.

Do you guys have any plans coming out for touring or have anything in the pipeline for future tours?

Seth: Well we just got picked up by Artery Global, and definitely they helped with booking. It’s our intent to put together a more aggressive touring schedule and agenda going forward; kind of build our resume.

John: As far as things actually booked, we’re doing a five day run with the release of Mend. It started last night in Columbus, and then tonight in Lakewood. Tomorrow we’re playing in Cincinnati, Monday is in Detroit, Tuesday is in the Chicago area. So it’s like the longest cohesive run that we’ve ever had haha. All the other ones have been broken up, they haven’t been consistent.

Kyle: It’s been kind of a tough break because the last tour we were supposed to go on the headliner ended up dropping because a lot of the shows were falling through. Through a variety of different factors I guess it was really unfortunate, but we were really excited about it.

John: It went from 12 days to 6 days to 4 days to like 3 days in the span of like a week and a half before it started.

  Damn, yeah that’s rough.

  John: Yeah like we requested off work and everything.

Nick: I lost my job for it hahaha.

John: Haha yeah so now we got like 3 days, only one of them is outside of Ohio. Shit happens.

  I know some bands are typically more touring oriented vs studio-based. Do you guys have a preference?

  Nick: I hate the studio because we’re paying for it.

All: Hahah yeah that sucks.

  Haha ok yeah that’s fair.

  John: Yeah it’s definitely a time crunch, at least our experience so far has been we haven’t had the luxury of writing in the studio or something like that. Most of the creativity is sort of precalculated, we do a lot of stuff outside of the actual studio to make sure that the time we spend in the studio is as efficient as it can be, just to keep costs down and stuff.

Chris: The recording process is really fun though and slightly challenging. I enjoy. Also, we haven’t spent a lot of time being a touring band, but I definitely think that’s our collective goal; to definitely be some road warriors for a while. We definitely want to get out as much as we can.

John: Playing live is such a different experience, obviously, for most bands instead of listening to a finished product. Listening to it in a live setting sets a completely different light.

Seth: It’s one thing to put music out there and have people listen to a recorded version and get response based on that. It’s another thing to be in the room with them playing the song and see the reaction.

John: It’s harder to fake too haha. We try but it’s harder to fake.

  Something I always like to ask people because they hate this question; if you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

  Nick: Time traveling so I can win the lottery over and over.

  Ok, I like it, but I feel like you would get flagged, like I feel like they would be like “this guy has won like 6 times… what’s going on here?

  Kyle: I would do just teleportation. It would be so nice, you guys would leave and I’d be like “ok I’ll just see you later when you get there.”

John: Um… invisibility would be sick too, the standards, really.

Chris: I’d go with flying, honestly. It’s kind of like teleportation but fun.

John: Sounds dangerous haha.

Chris: Unless it’s like Harry Potter where you’re holding someone’s entire weight.

Kyle: Yeah you might have to work out a little to be able to do that haha.

Seth: I might have to go with Kyle on this, teleportation would be good. I just hate traffic so much.

  I feel that so hard.

  Kyle: It’s really telling of our character that we don’t have any nefarious purpose for teleporting, no its like “traffic fucking sucks, I want to teleport.”

Seth: Hahah yeah traffic is just the worst.

Nick: Yeah but no one in the band has to deal with traffic because I drive.

Seth: Ok so all four of us could teleport then Nick just has to drive.

All: Ahhh yes hahahah

Seth: Just by yourself with all of the gear.

  Ok those are good haha. If you don’t mind, take me through your writing process. Do you guys write a lot of material before you get those few songs that are great?

  John: Yeeeep. There’s more unheard music then there is that we’ve put out there.

  Would you ever release any of those? Like a demo and b-side record?

  John: Well, most of them are just working demos, not really worth releasing haha.

Seth: In our Drive I have probably like 50 or 60 songs, maybe 30 or so are completely written lyrically and arranged. Obviously they’d need some fine-tuning and stuff, but most of them are fully formed and demoed. Through funding the recording costs and trimming the fat we ended up with 6. For Mend we juggled around with what, 14 to 15 songs?

John: Yeah we easily had enough for a full-length and our manager pushed us to maybe pursue that, but in the self-funded realm without label support, its hard. When you’re funding it yourself you pay by like the song, generally.

Kyle: There’s definitely some songs that were around before this EP came out that I think we definitely still want to release.

John: Yeah absolutely. Songs that almost made the cut. We made some last minute changes right before we hit the studio.

Chris: When we were right about to go into the studio I wrote Numb. That song wasn’t even in our minds.

Nick: Yeah that song was written like a week and a half before we started recording.

Seth: I think Evergreen was pretty new too.

John: Oh yeah! I think with Evergreen and Numb, we were deciding on where to go. It changed the overall tone of the record. The songs we swapped out for those two were heavier.

Chris: Yeah we had a more progressive heavier sound, but when we added those we went with a more focused melodic sound.

Kyle: It’s kind of all over the place because Numb was very last minute, but by contrast we had the demo for Retrace in like, late 2016.

Chris: Yeah that song is old as fuck. Same thing with An Apparition.

Seth: Those are both the oldest songs.

Chris: Those are both from around September of 2016.

John: So that was post-Zoetic era. So our last record was like two years ago. Some of those songs are from around then. Yeah, there’s never a shortage of music haha.

Chris: …I write a lot…

  I mean I feel like that’s how you do it. Do you have any specific shows that stand out as memorable? Either as awesome or horrific?

  All: Ohhhhh we’ve got horror stories haha.

  Ok hit me with one.

  Chris: The senior center.

John: It was some hardcore festival, it was like 2 days and 20 bands or something like that.

Kyle: There was at least 10+ bands each day. But it was in some senior center in West Virginia.

John: It was in the absolute middle of fucking nowhere.

Seth: Hurricane, West Virginia.

Nick: We slept in a Walmart!

John: We got there so early so we could have a good parking spot. We got there hours before the promoters even showed up. The promoters ended up being like… teenagers.

Nick: It was a sick parking spot though.

John: That’s true, it was sick.

Nick: We sat there for like… 8 hours.

John: We got a bunch of alcohol and just killed time.

Kyle: It was some charity event, it was actually pretty impressive that some high school kids were able to put this together. We passed time just sitting there drinking Strawberry… something. Strawberita Bud-Light things.

Chris: AND it was in West Virginia so we got moonshine. It was fucking gross.

  Helllll yeah!

  John: They had like… old people rocking chairs in the space that we played. With pictures of old people on the walls and stuff. It was like some senior community center. We had to move all the chairs to the mess hall area, I think they all had those tennis balls on the legs and everything.

  Wait… you didn’t like, play for a bunch of old people did you? Was it a younger crowd?

  John: No! Not at all hahahah. It was a typical metal/hardcore crowd.

  Oh ok good! Shit I was gonna say… Jesus I don’t think they would appreciate that genre very much haha.

  John: Yeah it just happened to be IN a senior center.

  Ok, I got you, I got you.

  Chris: Yeah like Dorris broke her hip moshing too hard hahaha.

John: Yeah man, they throw down hard haha.

Seth: For all the gripes and grievances, as Kyle said, the people that put it together were teenagers. They actually did a solid job though.

All: Absolutely!

Seth: I mean when I was 15 I was like… putting my boogers underneath desks in science class and shit.

Chris: Just gettin high in graveyards, man!

Nick: The worst show was definitely Ruby Tuesdays in Columbus, though.

John: Noooo way.

Nick: I couldn’t hear myself at all! We got off time.

John: That was rough but it wasn’t that bad.

Kyle: My personal worst show was this house show in Akron where the basement that we played on, the floor or foundation was eroded or something. There was just dirt on the ground. As we were playing and jumping around it was kicking up into our faces. I was coughing and dirt was coming out of my nose.

John: We were blowing dirt out of our noses.

Chris: I was so drunk I didn’t even notice…

Nick: I actually almost puked because of all the dust.

  Yeah that sounds absolutely awful.

  John: We’ve done lots of basements, pizza shops, and basements of pizza shops.

  Wrapping up, do you have anything you guys want to say? Now’s the time to freestyle.

  Chris: Umm… my seventh grade reading teacher; Mrs. Caesar, she told me I read too fast. She can go fuck herself.

Nick: This is actually the best time to announce: Kyle you’re being replaced.

Kyle: Alright, peace.

John: So obviously, listen to Mend. We’re on all major streaming platforms. You can buy it if you want. It’s 5 bucks.

  Okay! That’s all I got, thanks so much everyone!

  All: Thank you!

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          Interview and Photos by Dan Cornelius, RockRevolt Journalist/Photojournalist

Connect with A Sense of Purpose (click icons):

A Sense of Purpose Interview: Tour with New EP “Mend” Ohio band A Sense of Purpose brought in the crowd for the release show of their new EP, Mend.

[rockrevoltmagazine]

A Sense of Purpose Interview: Tour with New EP "Mend"

Ohio band A Sense of Purpose brought in the crowd for the release show of their new EP, Mend. Applause and cheers broke out as they approached the stage to set up their gear. Kicking off, the band brought awesome energy and life to their new songs; they played some new tracks mixed with fan favorites. Throughout the set, the crowd was incredibly lively; jumping and moshing to the beats. I had the opportunity to sit down with the entire band for a conversation about the band and their new EP.

  Why don’t you guys go around and introduce yourselves and your role in the band.

My name is Seth and I play bass.

I’m John, I’m the vocalist.

I’m Chris, I’m the guitarist and vocalist.

I’m Nick and I’m the drummer.

I’m Kyle and I play guitar and kind of yell at everyone I guess. Band dad.

  How are you feeling about the reception for your EP Mend coming out?

Nick: Haven’t seen any trashy things yet haha.

Seth: Generally I feel like it’s been well received, but that’s just based off of like, social media posts or people just coming up and talking to you about it.

John: Yeah, I guess that remains to be seen. Maybe we’ll find out tonight; we’re playing a lot of these songs for the first time.

Kyle: It’s kind of hard to really build I guess a concrete set of expectations too; previous singles do kind of okay, but we don’t really know what to expect in any real sense. Anything that happens is just a good feeling at this point.

Seth: Yeah, all specific responses I’ve gotten on it so far have been generally very positive, so I think that’s a good sign.

Good! Everything I’ve seen has been really positive. So, congratulations on that guys!

  All: Thank you!

Chris: Hey I own that hat [referring to the Sorry Mom hat I was wearing].

  Haha, everybody owns this hat. It’s a fantastic hat. It’s funny because I’ve had multiple people come up to me, and when they don’t know the band they see ‘sorry mom’ written on the back and they’re like ahhhh thats hilarious! I’m like ha yeah… it’s actually a band though you should check them out… Well… was a band.

  All: Yeah hahaha, RIP.

In writing this EP has there been any difference in your creative process from previous work to this new record?

  Nick: We did drums last this time.

John: Seth wrote more lyrics, I think.

Seth: Yeah, maybe just lyrically I kind of chipped in a little bit to take the load off of Chris with the recording process.

  Gotcha, so Chris you’re the primary writer?

Chris: Yeah. Writing this time around I tried to have a little more focus, direction, more cohesive song writing; a little less extravagant and progressive… Only a little haha. It still gets kind of proggy and technical, but I think the songs are just more focused, heavier emphasis on melody, more hooks, more singing than previous stuff. NO guitar solos, actually. We went from… a LOT of guitar solos to.. None.

Seth: Yeah haha, I think every track on our last record had one. All of them. Also no real breakdown-type parts on this record.

John: Yeah not really, it’s more groovy. It may come off as lighter to some people haha. Some kind of like, heavy purists have commented but like it’s all been positive.

Do you guys have any plans coming out for touring or have anything in the pipeline for future tours?

Seth: Well we just got picked up by Artery Global, and definitely they helped with booking. It’s our intent to put together a more aggressive touring schedule and agenda going forward; kind of build our resume.

John: As far as things actually booked, we’re doing a five day run with the release of Mend. It started last night in Columbus, and then tonight in Lakewood. Tomorrow we’re playing in Cincinnati, Monday is in Detroit, Tuesday is in the Chicago area. So it’s like the longest cohesive run that we’ve ever had haha. All the other ones have been broken up, they haven’t been consistent.

Kyle: It’s been kind of a tough break because the last tour we were supposed to go on the headliner ended up dropping because a lot of the shows were falling through. Through a variety of different factors I guess it was really unfortunate, but we were really excited about it.

John: It went from 12 days to 6 days to 4 days to like 3 days in the span of like a week and a half before it started.

  Damn, yeah that’s rough.

  John: Yeah like we requested off work and everything.

Nick: I lost my job for it hahaha.

John: Haha yeah so now we got like 3 days, only one of them is outside of Ohio. Shit happens.

  I know some bands are typically more touring oriented vs studio-based. Do you guys have a preference?

  Nick: I hate the studio because we’re paying for it.

All: Hahah yeah that sucks.

  Haha ok yeah that’s fair.

  John: Yeah it’s definitely a time crunch, at least our experience so far has been we haven’t had the luxury of writing in the studio or something like that. Most of the creativity is sort of precalculated, we do a lot of stuff outside of the actual studio to make sure that the time we spend in the studio is as efficient as it can be, just to keep costs down and stuff.

Chris: The recording process is really fun though and slightly challenging. I enjoy. Also, we haven’t spent a lot of time being a touring band, but I definitely think that’s our collective goal; to definitely be some road warriors for a while. We definitely want to get out as much as we can.

John: Playing live is such a different experience, obviously, for most bands instead of listening to a finished product. Listening to it in a live setting sets a completely different light.

Seth: It’s one thing to put music out there and have people listen to a recorded version and get response based on that. It’s another thing to be in the room with them playing the song and see the reaction.

John: It’s harder to fake too haha. We try but it’s harder to fake.

  Something I always like to ask people because they hate this question; if you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

  Nick: Time traveling so I can win the lottery over and over.

  Ok, I like it, but I feel like you would get flagged, like I feel like they would be like “this guy has won like 6 times… what’s going on here?

  Kyle: I would do just teleportation. It would be so nice, you guys would leave and I’d be like “ok I’ll just see you later when you get there.”

John: Um… invisibility would be sick too, the standards, really.

Chris: I’d go with flying, honestly. It’s kind of like teleportation but fun.

John: Sounds dangerous haha.

Chris: Unless it’s like Harry Potter where you’re holding someone’s entire weight.

Kyle: Yeah you might have to work out a little to be able to do that haha.

Seth: I might have to go with Kyle on this, teleportation would be good. I just hate traffic so much.

  I feel that so hard.

  Kyle: It’s really telling of our character that we don’t have any nefarious purpose for teleporting, no its like “traffic fucking sucks, I want to teleport.”

Seth: Hahah yeah traffic is just the worst.

Nick: Yeah but no one in the band has to deal with traffic because I drive.

Seth: Ok so all four of us could teleport then Nick just has to drive.

All: Ahhh yes hahahah

Seth: Just by yourself with all of the gear.

  Ok those are good haha. If you don’t mind, take me through your writing process. Do you guys write a lot of material before you get those few songs that are great?

  John: Yeeeep. There’s more unheard music then there is that we’ve put out there.

  Would you ever release any of those? Like a demo and b-side record?

  John: Well, most of them are just working demos, not really worth releasing haha.

Seth: In our Drive I have probably like 50 or 60 songs, maybe 30 or so are completely written lyrically and arranged. Obviously they’d need some fine-tuning and stuff, but most of them are fully formed and demoed. Through funding the recording costs and trimming the fat we ended up with 6. For Mend we juggled around with what, 14 to 15 songs?

John: Yeah we easily had enough for a full-length and our manager pushed us to maybe pursue that, but in the self-funded realm without label support, its hard. When you’re funding it yourself you pay by like the song, generally.

Kyle: There’s definitely some songs that were around before this EP came out that I think we definitely still want to release.

John: Yeah absolutely. Songs that almost made the cut. We made some last minute changes right before we hit the studio.

Chris: When we were right about to go into the studio I wrote Numb. That song wasn’t even in our minds.

Nick: Yeah that song was written like a week and a half before we started recording.

Seth: I think Evergreen was pretty new too.

John: Oh yeah! I think with Evergreen and Numb, we were deciding on where to go. It changed the overall tone of the record. The songs we swapped out for those two were heavier.

Chris: Yeah we had a more progressive heavier sound, but when we added those we went with a more focused melodic sound.

Kyle: It’s kind of all over the place because Numb was very last minute, but by contrast we had the demo for Retrace in like, late 2016.

Chris: Yeah that song is old as fuck. Same thing with An Apparition.

Seth: Those are both the oldest songs.

Chris: Those are both from around September of 2016.

John: So that was post-Zoetic era. So our last record was like two years ago. Some of those songs are from around then. Yeah, there’s never a shortage of music haha.

Chris: …I write a lot…

  I mean I feel like that’s how you do it. Do you have any specific shows that stand out as memorable? Either as awesome or horrific?

  All: Ohhhhh we’ve got horror stories haha.

  Ok hit me with one.

  Chris: The senior center.

John: It was some hardcore festival, it was like 2 days and 20 bands or something like that.

Kyle: There was at least 10+ bands each day. But it was in some senior center in West Virginia.

John: It was in the absolute middle of fucking nowhere.

Seth: Hurricane, West Virginia.

Nick: We slept in a Walmart!

John: We got there so early so we could have a good parking spot. We got there hours before the promoters even showed up. The promoters ended up being like… teenagers.

Nick: It was a sick parking spot though.

John: That’s true, it was sick.

Nick: We sat there for like… 8 hours.

John: We got a bunch of alcohol and just killed time.

Kyle: It was some charity event, it was actually pretty impressive that some high school kids were able to put this together. We passed time just sitting there drinking Strawberry… something. Strawberita Bud-Light things.

Chris: AND it was in West Virginia so we got moonshine. It was fucking gross.

  Helllll yeah!

  John: They had like… old people rocking chairs in the space that we played. With pictures of old people on the walls and stuff. It was like some senior community center. We had to move all the chairs to the mess hall area, I think they all had those tennis balls on the legs and everything.

  Wait… you didn’t like, play for a bunch of old people did you? Was it a younger crowd?

  John: No! Not at all hahahah. It was a typical metal/hardcore crowd.

  Oh ok good! Shit I was gonna say… Jesus I don’t think they would appreciate that genre very much haha.

  John: Yeah it just happened to be IN a senior center.

  Ok, I got you, I got you.

  Chris: Yeah like Dorris broke her hip moshing too hard hahaha.

John: Yeah man, they throw down hard haha.

Seth: For all the gripes and grievances, as Kyle said, the people that put it together were teenagers. They actually did a solid job though.

All: Absolutely!

Seth: I mean when I was 15 I was like… putting my boogers underneath desks in science class and shit.

Chris: Just gettin high in graveyards, man!

Nick: The worst show was definitely Ruby Tuesdays in Columbus, though.

John: Noooo way.

Nick: I couldn’t hear myself at all! We got off time.

John: That was rough but it wasn’t that bad.

Kyle: My personal worst show was this house show in Akron where the basement that we played on, the floor or foundation was eroded or something. There was just dirt on the ground. As we were playing and jumping around it was kicking up into our faces. I was coughing and dirt was coming out of my nose.

John: We were blowing dirt out of our noses.

Chris: I was so drunk I didn’t even notice…

Nick: I actually almost puked because of all the dust.

  Yeah that sounds absolutely awful.

  John: We’ve done lots of basements, pizza shops, and basements of pizza shops.

  Wrapping up, do you have anything you guys want to say? Now’s the time to freestyle.

  Chris: Umm… my seventh grade reading teacher; Mrs. Caesar, she told me I read too fast. She can go fuck herself.

Nick: This is actually the best time to announce: Kyle you’re being replaced.

Kyle: Alright, peace.

John: So obviously, listen to Mend. We’re on all major streaming platforms. You can buy it if you want. It’s 5 bucks.

  Okay! That’s all I got, thanks so much everyone!

  All: Thank you!

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          Interview and Photos by Dan Cornelius, RockRevolt Journalist

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A Sense of Purpose Interview: Tour with New EP “Mend” was originally published on RockRevolt Mag