New hotly tipped alternative “pop” band Young Sierra announce their debut single and video for the song The Lights out 28 October. We were impressed with the quality, vibrancy and direction of the video and by the sound that Young Sierra produce.
So we asked a few questions of Ben (Vocals) James (Synths) & Johnny (Drums).
Tell us more about the making of the video?
We’ve worked really hard on creating a strong visual aesthetic and colour palette for the band. For the video, our aim was to expand on that. The idea of us driving around using rear projection to show the movement of the city behind us is a show of reverence to so many of the movies and television shows that inspired us growing up; that stylistic effect embodies a period in music and film that we’re very fond of.
Who did you work with on it?
We worked with a great director, Joe Warley. Joe totally got our vision for the video and was able to realise it in a really creative way.
Do you play all the instruments yourselves or do you use samples and loops?
All the instruments are played by us but for this track, Simon from Fanfarlo played saxophone and recorded it at the Muscle Shoals sound studio in Alabama. Thats something we are really proud of, in someway being part of the history of that place, even if its just in a really small way!
Also on saxophone we had the help of the amazing Sax Man who plays in Rudimental, he brought so much to the track and we’re really happy that he was involved.
What are the band’s influences?
We feel like we have a lot of song writing and melodic influences such as Bowie, Prince (its been a hard year). Also amazing female songwriters from the late eighties/ early nineties, Shakespeares Sister, Cyndi Lauper to name a couple, to more modern artists like Drake but most of our sonic influences come from the likes of hip-hop artists like Dilla, RZA and Yeezus.
More on Young Sierra..
School friends James and Jonny moved down from Manchester to London, and met Ben in Spring 2015. Bonding over a shared love of low bit-rate Drake mp3s, eighties pop, and hot-sauce, they formed Young Sierra.
After spending over a year locked away in the studio, Young Sierra debut with The Lights EP, a 3-track that showcases the band’s unique aesthetic. Combining 80’s synth-pop with shimmering indie guitars and Ben’s signature vocal.
The Lights is a perfect introduction to a sound that will become very familiar in 2017.
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