British Electro Band Guest Singer Release Video for “New Experience” (premiere + interview)

“New Experience” from British trio Guest Singer chips away at the shiny lacquer of modern day social media bullshit and takes aim at those carefully managed social media personas that profit from baseless claims and pseudo-philosophical assertions. Over gleaming, oscillating notes, sparse, reverb drenched guitar lines and a crisp beat Singer Jake Cope cuttingly skewers the sham of social media influencers with the line, “Do you live by the words on the backdrop, of a well shot holiday hotspot?”

Even as the song bursts into colour with warming surges of 80s synths and echoing guitar that thrust the song into a wide-eyed sugar rush of a chorus, there’s a sense that the dizzying high is a superficial one – echoing the empty platitudes offered by countless online influencers. To accompany the video the band has paired the song with an arresting video from designer and artist Richard De Hoxar. Below Jake Cope from the band tells us more about the song and how the video came about.

What was the first thing you came up with when writing “New Experience“, a melody, a chord progression, a lyric etc?

It started with the title. All the songs on this EP were specifically started from a title first. It was a new way of approaching a song for me. I suppose what really kicked it off was the first line. It paved the way for the rest of the words.

How easily did it all come together?

Fairly straightforward actually. We took a basic version of it into the studio and had a clear idea of what it needed to sound like. We had fun in keeping a theme with it.

Musically, what were the touchstones for you when writing the song?

“New Experience” is a concept within itself I guess. So because of what the song is about, it was important that it had a strong pop sensibility and was immediate. I imagined that it would be interesting for it to be glossy but counteract that with the ‘anti’ aspects of the song. It did lean a little on the sounds of television adverts of the 1880s which was intentional.

Can you tell us a bit about the subject of the song?

It’s based on the motivational quotes of the internet and how something that pretends to be personal development based is used for advertising and feeds into the unrealistic mindsets of unachievable goals. Which then creates a whole set of other problems for people.

What did you learn about yourself as a musician in the making of “New Experience”?

That working with a clear idea and theme can be really fun.

Can you tell us a little about the video and how you came to work with Richard De Hoxar?

I was looking for the video to be heavily word based, tying in with the anti-motivational quotes posts I’d been putting up before the release. I didn’t just want it to be a standard looking lyric video. So I looked into kinetic typography. I found Richard’s work on Instagram and reached out in the hope that he’d be up for working together. Luckily he was. He was really fun to work with and passionate about it. We discussed general themes, but he had free rein really. I’m so glad he said yes!

What was he like to work with?

Great! Before he went fully into it he passed some of his ideas and a few different concepts. We agreed on one and just left him to it. What was really nice was that he totally got what the song was about and the movement choices he made in the video were just perfect. Hopefully we can work together again.

What’s your relationship like with the songs on your I’m Irrelevant Now EP now you’ve lived with them for so long?

It’s all still relatively fresh. Although the songs have been around a while now on a recorded level, we are only really starting to live with them in a live setting. So we are starting to get more immediate reactions now from ourselves and audiences, which is exciting.

Is there anything you’d change about them?

I don’t think so, they carried and accompanied the words pretty well. The whole EP had an overarching theme and how the songs came out fitted that.

What lessons have you learnt to take into the making of the next EP/album?

That anything goes. As long as your challenging yourself I think that’s a good start.

What’s next for you?

More shows and more music hopefully. We have started working on the next release. Getting out and doing more shows is a must though.

Who would be your dream collaborator?

Mike Mogis has always been up there. That would so great! We’ve always loved his work.

What are your three desert island records?

Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes

Bright Eyes – A Digital Ash in a Digital Urn

Black Lace – Greatest Hits