In a scene dominated by DJs encouraging fans to “put their hands up,” the energy of a live electronica performance is a welcome slice of raw humanity. FMLYBND, the genre-bending band behind 2014’s hit “Come Alive,” continues to deliver on their promise of re-shaping electronic music with their new EP “Hearts on Fire.” The group from Isla Vista, CA melds upbeat, danceable vibes with just the right amount of grunge rock to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack. Check out their new video for “Space and Time” and drift away…
Directed by Josh Morton
Interview by Andy Gorel
Andy: “Space & Time” is a really dancy song which is reflected in the video. Where did the inspiration for the video come from?
FMLYBND: Honestly there wasn’t much inspiration involved (laughs). We were just at home and were like, “yo you guys wanna make a video?”. We shot pretty much one random night with our friend josh, and loved the outcome!
Andy: Are there any artists you grew up listening to, or have been listening to lately that you feel influenced the songs 80s-reminiscent dance attitude?
FMLYBND: We listen to so much music, it’s hard to really say what inspires us really, it’s everything. I’d say its more places and events that inspire the vibe – we live in a party town so the vision when writing a song is just playing at a house party and going crazy with everyone! I could name every cool new wave 80’s band that’s inspired us but honestly lately that hasn’t really been the vibe. That’s not to say, M83 has always been an influence for us and I think you can really hear that in this song.
Andy: Did you have a vision for the video in mind as you were writing the song?
FMLYBND: (laughs) No way! This song is one of our oldest songs, from like 2014. We’ve had ideas for the video but they were all very extravagant and would have cost so much money to execute well (laughs). We were sorta bored one night and were like, well we need to do a music video for space & time – lets do it!. Our friend Josh goes to Brooks Institute and lives around the corner, so he came over and we shot for literally like 30-45 minutes. That’s our video
Andy: Have there been any obstacles in terms of production for either your EP or video that have come your way as a result of being a totally independent band, and how have you overcome them?
FMLYBND: I mean everything really. Without finances from a label it leaves you with 2 options, either quit or learn how to do it yourself. We decided to do everything ourselves – videos and music, everything is done DIY. We built our own studio where we record everything and also other bands too, and that’s the same spot we shot the video (laughs)
