‘The Strain’ is the third single taken from KEYS new album HOME SCHOOLING: A Collection of 4-track rarities, out on 21/08/20.
Matthew Evans Vocals/Guitar/Songwriting talks us through this personal of songs:
“The Strain is about friendship. I knew it before, but lockdown has really brought home the importance of my friends to me. There’s a hurt at the heart of The Strain. I was trying to capture what I call the Swansea Soul. I was channelling Pete Hamm. I’m so proud that Badfinger come from Swansea. It blows my mind. I find it quite easy to tap into that sense of longing and what the Welsh call Hiraeth. It’s probably the most personal song I’ve ever written.”
The frontman of indie band Saint Mars Tryzdin has released his first solo ‘A New Way’, which premiered via CelebMix. Tryzdin gained publicity after releasing his remarkable rendition of pop queen Adele’s single ‘Hello’, which generated buzz across renowned publications like Huffington Post, Daily Mirror, RFM, as well as television networks like Fox News and NBC4 TV. The young singer then joined the band Saint Mars as their lead singer. Saint Mars has been streamed just under 3 million times across major music streaming services.
We find out more about Tryzdin in this exclusive.
What are some of your earliest memories of music?
I remember driving around with my parent and listening to RnB and pop music in the car.
Take us through your songwriting process. Are there any particular steps you take when putting music together?
I like to know what I am writing about before jumping right into the song. So first I usually find a good story or just something interesting, then I write about it. I like to find the chorus first and then build around that. Then I find the right beat and start putting the song together.
Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, which do you prefer?
I prefer a live audience because it really makes all the music make and the hard work pays off.
What is the most memorable response you have had to your music?
I was in 1st grade at my Elementary School talent show. I was singing ‘Rolling in the Deep’ by Adele; at the end of the performance, I remember the crowd cheering and clapping. At that moment I knew that I wanted to become a performer.
You previously mentioned this about the new single, “The song to me is about empowerment and overcoming your fears and especially overcoming hate”. How does one overcome hate?
The way I did it was starting to ignore it or really pretending they weren’t there. I also started working harder on everything they were telling me I couldn’t do, I then realized that the more I did that, the less it did affect me.
If you could put together a radio show, what kind of music would you play?
I would play a mix of all genres. I would do that because all music has its own stories and they all have a meaning.
Name five artists and their albums who would appear on your radio show
Billie Eilish ‘When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go’, Ben Platt ‘Sing To Me Instead’, Xxxtentacion ‘?’, Tom Walker ‘What A Time To Be Alive’, and Alec Benjamin ‘These Two Windows’
Describe the process of creating your solo single.
It was really stressful, to be honest, there was a lot of times where I wanted to give up and I thought “no one would like my music”, there was also a lot of not knowing what to do next and how to make the song the best it could be. But I’m the end it was all worth it, and I’m happy people like the song.
What would you like to achieve with your music? What does success look like to you?
Success to me is being recognized on the streets, performing across the world, millions of people listening to your music. Success to me is not money or materialistic things. It’s really all about how your music or your craft makes people feel.
Directed by Matthew Nelson, the video for MAR V is as surreal and chaotic as the world that we’re living in at the moment, reflecting the pulsating energy of the song itself – wall-to-wall with everything from flashes of a latex-clad gas-masked dancer to tour and lockdown antics.
Discussing the video, director Matthew Nelson explains: “The concept behind the video was a glorified tour vlog turned nightmare. I took influences from directors like Darren Aronofsky and the 90s dance track “Killer” by ADAMSKI.”
Some of the footage used in the video was from the last show that the band played just before lockdown, which was in front of a 1,000-strong crowd at MaNo-Musikfestival in Germany. Drummer, Sam Thorne says “I’d say that the video sort of represents our experience over the last 5 months. The craziness of MaNo and those amazing gigs, all the people and parties, and then a different kind of craziness once we crash landed into lockdown straight after.”
Lead singer and guitarist, Peter Marchant continues: “We had all this footage of us on tour, in the studio etc. which is all well and good, but we wanted to throw some kind of bizarre fly in the ointment. So Matthew suggested we film lots of extra footage in our flat, and use whatever bonkers ideas that came into our heads. We had a lot of hilarious moments shooting these ideas all night.”
Consisting of hypnotic synth lines, goosebump-inducing rhythm and a hint of dark and mysterious atmosphere, Phantom Isle’s latest release, ‘MAR V’ sees the band stray from their art-pop roots with great success; highlighting their effortless capability to blend genres and moods for maximum effect – think LCD Soundsystem/Hot Chip style indie-house.
Keyboard player, Joshua Pullen who took the lead with writing the music says: “The song started as a remix of our previous single ‘I Am Urs’ but became a very different beast when I was messing about with a new drum machine I bought. I was listening to a lot of Soulwax and Simian Mobile Disco at the time and loved how they would produce songs with a pounding single-note loop throughout.”
Despite its upbeat and energetic feel, there’s a dark side to ‘MAR V’. Lyricist and drummer, Sam Thorne explains: “The lyrics were actually written about feeling anxious and alone” comparing that feeling to an old friend that follows you through life, saying “you almost miss it when you leave it behind”. Singer and guitarist, Peter Marchant adds, “the song pretty much became the soundtrack of MaNo-Musikfestival in Marburg, Germany, where we headlined in March this year”. 2,000 fans jumped and danced frantically to MAR V’s hypnotic pulse at the festival’s closing show, seen in the single’s official video along with a montage of mischievous and surreal footage from the band’s journey so far. The band arrived in Marburg on March 5th (hence the romanised title, ‘MAR V’), they saw and conquered.
Rising Dublin quartet TV PEOPLE return on 4th September with their third single of 2020, ‘Nothing More’ and its accompanying video directed by Robert Clarke.
Mixed and recorded at Darklands Audio with Dan Doherty (Fontaines D.C., Vulpynes) and mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Christian Wright (Radiohead, Blur, LCD Soundsystem), ‘Nothing More’ sees the band come to terms with identity and the struggle of finding a purpose in life.
Speaking about the single, the band explain: “It reflects on the superficial challenges of finding yourself that you face in adolescence and early adulthood, and contrasts these with a deeper existential anxiety that emerges in their place as you begin to overcome them.”
“The song documents the experience of trying to make peace with the realisation that life may be inherently meaningless and deal with the burden of being responsible for your own life’s purpose. It was written remotely during the lockdown period by sending each other music and mixing a home demo which was a new way of writing for us.”
‘Nothing More’ follows the release of singles ‘Kitchen Sinking’ and ‘Time Eats Up’ earlier in 2020, with ‘Kitchen Sinking’ earning a spot on Spotify’s ‘An Alternative Éire’ playlist, and ‘Time Eats Up’ receiving heavy promotion from the legendary Abbey Road Studios.
Hailing from the heart of Ireland’s capital, TV People are a Dublin four-piece who lace their indie/garage rock sound with punk-infused undertones. Despite forming in early 2019, the band have been honing their craft across the live scene, making themselves one of the most exciting bands coming out of Dublin right now.
First toying with the idea of creating the band, Paul, Brendan and Len later recruited Rob to perfect the group’s dynamic. Since, TV People have worked with Dan Doherty (Darklands Audio) and Christian Wright (Abbey Road Studios) on their latest releases and also garnered support from the likes of Abbey Road Studios, The Daily Star, Earmilk, When The Horn Blows, Amazing Radio, RTÉ and 98FM, and more.
