SF Psych Rockers, The Looseys, link up with visual maestro Slim Reaper for their latest single. Satisfy your mind's eye and tap into "Freaps Delight".
We had the opportunity to chat with both of the artists about the new single.
Photo by: @malindijo
Here's what they had to say:
Q: How long has The Looseys been making music? How’d you all get together?
A: We’ve been making music since May of 2019. We’ve known each other for quite some time, meeting by going to the same house shows or parties starting back around 2014.
Q: Have you played shows or been a part of the local scene out in SF?
A: Yes. We’ve been very lucky to play shows with some kickass bands. Going to shows here for the past few years you meet allot of rad people in different parts of the scene. One of our most recent performances was a socially distanced live stream winter formal through The Complex-SF.
The band Sore Thumb coordinated the show with sick bands such as Buzzedlightbeer, Shutups, Sarchasm, Whateverglades, and The Band Ice Cream. It was a lot of fun for sure.
Q: How the process been writing your newest project?
A: Some of these songs we wrote very quickly during the beginning of the band. We were trying to get enough songs for a show that we said we’d play a few weeks after forming.
For the first few shows these songs were brand new, so Eric would often make up new lyrics for each show. Anthony, our drummer, has been the brains behind our self recording process, which has been allot of fun.
For about six months of quarantine he was living in the palm desert. During that time the rest of the band visited and we filmed the "Drive" music video. While living there, Anthony mixed Freaps as well as a bunch of songs that’ll be on our up coming first album.
Q: How did your newest single “Freaps Delight” come to fruition? What’s it about?
A: Dixie, our bassist, brought the chord progression to the band early on, after messing with it for a little bit and flipping the verse and chorus we had this spooky heavy song. The lyrics were written by our guitarist Eric about his experience with sleep paralysis.
“I’ve had insomnia, sleep paralysis, and very intense lucid dreams since I was a kid, and it’s always been wild. It can be very haunting and surrealistic but I can’t say it’s been all bad. In many ways I like playing with scary themes, because it helps me reclaim all of the weird and absurd stuff I’ve been through when I sleep.”-Eric
Q: How did you link up with Slim Reaper? What was it like collaborating on this new video?
A: We love that guy! He’s one of a few good friends down in Long Beach. He’s one of the most talented friends in visual effects, film, and installation art we know and an all around sweetheart. We hit him up asking if he’d be down to collaborate and he told us to send him some shots in front of a blank backdrop. We hit up our friend Malindi and before we knew it, we were filming in front of a white sheet pinned to the ceiling of Eric’s garage and a few lamps we bought at the Goodwill.
Q: Are you looking forward for anything in 2021, any plans for the band?
A: Absolutely, we mentioned a new album and oh boy do we have one for you. We’ve been recording an album for quite some time, and it’s finally about to come out real soon. We wanted to make something fast, fun, with a little spooky sweet mixed in. An album that will get you stoked and invoke that feeling of excitement that you get when you’re on the way to a show you know is going to be ruckus inside, in the best way.
Photo by @axlsouetre
Slim Reaper:
Q: How do you usually go about creating your effects? How do you describe your visuals?
SR: For my video art, I like to live in the realm of NTSC. Anything with an RCA cable is a viable tool. The Looseys video features a lot of Tachyons+ hardware, some RPi based softwares and a few different video mixers (mx50 and v4) for keying effects. I try to do a minimal amount of effects in the post process in premiere for videos.
As far as describing my visual style, that’s for the viewer to decide. I feel like I try to spice it up project to project to keep it fresh.
Q: How did you start making music videos for artists?
SR: I post stuff. People must like it because they email me. I am also fortunate enough to have a lot of talented friends in a lot of really amazing bands, who also dig my stuff.
In this instance, the Looseys and I go way back. Good memories sleeping on their floor after a King Gizz show.
Q: What are some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on?
SR: The “Smile” video for Grave Flowers Bongo Band. I love experimenting with film, and that project was personal because it was my first time using an antique camera I found over lockdown; a 16mm double perf Bell & Howell Primo70 that belonged to my great grandfather.
We shot with a roll of black and white film that he had left preloaded in the 70s. A nice change of pace in creative thinking from the glitch aesthetic. Also Gabe is The Man and he makes awesome music!
My back hates me for it, but I will always love my television installation work! Whether it is with a dream team like Purdylites and SnakeChimeZen at Desert Daze or self sustained shows with my own Slim Reaper crew, video art is so much fun in a physical space. Got a lot planned on the horizon for that as well
Q: What was the process like making the new video for The Looseys?
SR: Like most of my pandemic work, the Looseys video was about working together despite the physical distance between us (SF and LA). The band shot all their own video on a green screen. I did a preliminary cut, then did several effect passes, recut those together, keyed in some abstract feedback stuff and cut it again. Titles were done with the Paup Eye by BPMC at the end. Wanted to capture what I call “the WOOOOOOOOO effect” that songs like “Freaps Delight” carry. ⚡️