ANCHR Magazine

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Filtering by Tag: Music Video Premiere

Premiere: Dream Version's "A Mind Can Change"

Dream Version is Alec Harryhausen, Eric Brummit and Michael Kunik

Dream Version is Alec Harryhausen, Eric Brummit and Michael Kunik

Chicago three-piece Dream Version has always been an ANCHR favorite, thanks to their infectious energy during their live performances and their tendency to push their creative boundaries. That’s why this week, we’re honored to be premiering the brand new video for their single “A Mind Can Change,” from their upcoming self-titled album.

Dream Version says that for their third album, they’ve decided to take a moment to simply inhabit the space they’ve created— calling upon their two mantras of “Don’t waste time” and “Don’t condescend.” Throughout the span of time between this record and 2017’s Fight Fair, the trio has experienced marriage, divorce, relocation, and the Covid-19 pandemic. The band says, “The result is a looser set of songs that represents everything we like and everything we’re capable of.  We decided to name it after ourselves.”

Elaborating on the new single “A Mind Can Change,” Alec Harryhausen says the inspiration stems from his fundamentally cynical attitude. He adds, “A lot of the story of this album started with me looking up at a dirty ceiling fan in my apartment and thinking, ‘That’s just the way life is; the ceiling fan’s dirty and I’ll never have the time or energy to clean it.’  The notion that it can take about 30 seconds to solve a problem like that, believe it or not, has been kind of revolutionary.  It was a fundamental part of my world view that most problems are facts of life, and even that we as a species might not deserve to have clean ceiling fans.”

From there, he began to shift his own mindset and to rewire his perspective. That fresh outlook, coupled with Harryhausen’s appreciation for Plastic Ono Band, led to him working through his demo of “A Mind Can Change” with bandmates Eric Brummit and Michael Kunik to build out the dynamics of it and keep it interesting for the whole run time. “It was a challenge for us to play this slow; we had to practice it a lot,” the band says.

For the music video, Dream Version worked with director Patrick Betzold, who had some experience doing animated work at his job and wanted to try it in a more ambitious way. As the band describes it, the video tells the story of 3 astronauts leaving behind a dead planet and trying to find a new one.

Watch the video below, and be sure to pre-order the self-titled album ahead of its July 30th release date here, or snag a ticket to the record release show to pick up a copy in person!

PREMIERE: "Underwater/Outerspace" Music Video by Sugarpulp

Today we’re pleased to share the premiere of the brand new music video for “Underwater/Outerspace” by Chicago’s own Sugarpulp.

Translating their sound from audio to video was a challenge that inspired Sugarpulp and music video director, Kevin Pickman. But the main goal was to have some fun. “When the band and I started discussing the aesthetic, we wanted something that was visually eerie and psychedelic but also didn’t take itself too seriously,” said Pickman. “Our main goal was to have fun with costumes and science fiction tropes.” Sugarpulp singer Deb Chesterman agreed. “Building the costumes and the storyline was like being a kid again and putting on a play for your parents.” To help them play dress-up, Aro Farmilant created the set and costumes. “Dreaming this universe into existence with the group was definitely mind-altering…there’s an ether of infinite possibilities to Underwater/Outerspace.”  Developing a visual world with musical elements posed another challenge to the band’s process. “We all got to use our creativity in ways that don’t manifest directly into music,” said Chesterman. Pickman’s storyline supported this process by combining plot with aesthetic. “I incorporated an idea my brother and I created for a graphic novel: a heartbroken woman travels to another dimension to steal the identity of her parallel self to continue a relationship she had lost.” In the world of Sugarpulp, anything is possible.

Get your first look at the music video below, and keep up with Sugarpulp on Facebook // Twitter // Instagram. The band will also be hosting a release show for the music video at Demons on Damen this Friday, January 31st-details here.


PREMIERE: "Good News" Music Video by Fauvely

Photo by Sean Kelly

Photo by Sean Kelly

Today we’re sharing the first look at Fauvely’s music video for “Good News,” from the band’s 2019 EP This is What the Living Do.

For the music video, the band teamed up with Sean Kelly and Remsy Atassi of Emulsion Lab to shoot the project on an Eclair NPR Ultra 16mm vintage camera, which interestingly is the same model that was used for Texas Chainsaw Massacre. “We've more or less adopted a deer as the Fauvely mascot and wanted to run with this theme, albeit in a really silly way. Our music can be on the sadder side…“Good News” is essentially a tongue-in-cheek anthem of self-defeat, so it was nice to do something absolutely ridiculous to off-set this,” says Fauvely’s lead vocalist and songwriter Sophie Brochu.

Tune into the new video below, and make sure you catch Fauvely at The Empty Bottle on Sunday, December 8th with Say Sue Me.


Keep up with Fauvely on Facebook // Instagram // Twitter

PREMIERE: Rookie "I Can't Have You But I Want You" Music Video

Earlier this year, Chicago music scene veterans Joe Bordenaro and Max Loebman decided to put aside their separate musical projects and join forces to form ROOKIE, along with musicians Dimitri Panoutsos and Kevin Decker. The new group quickly took the city by storm, performing everywhere from house shows and dive bars to The Empty Bottle, Lincoln Hall, and Thalia Hall. Chances are, if you’ve caught one of ROOKIE’s live shows around Chicago this year, you’ll remember them performing “I Can’t Have You But I Want You”— with its belt-along chorus and relatable sentiment, it’s hard to forget. Today, the setlist staple finally gets a proper release with a music video and a physical release from Treehouse Records.

Recorded live to tape at the Treehouse Records studio by engineer Barrett Guzaldo, with assists from Elan Frankel on Rhodes, Steve Kostakes on organ and Chris Kulwin playing a Les Paul, the track keeps all its same character as when it’s performed at a ROOKIE show. The video for the song, filmed and directed by Tim Nagle, gives a behind-the-scenes look at the recording process. Check out the premiere of the music video below, and if you like what you hear, pre-order the record from Treehouse here— which includes a B Side of “The Move.”


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You can also snag your copy of “"I Can't Have You But I Want You"/ “The Move” at Virgin Hotels for a release show on December 1st with Ovef Ow, Glyders, and Knox Fortune & Friends. 


Keep up with ROOKIE on Facebook + Twitter + Instagram

Front Cover acknowledgements: Photography by Alec Basse and design by Yasmine Sayre