A recent launch of a new EP, a quirky & fun video and an honest attitude, the award winning Gangs of Ballet reveal the process behind their decisions and constantly trying to stay creative.
The music video for your new single, ‘Something’ is visually captivating and thought provoking. What message are you trying to convey and what was the thought process behind the concept?
It was rad for us to do something different, our videos are usually a bit more cinematic in approach. So having a video with a bit more quirk was fun. Tomfoolery, a video company in Durban, were instrumental in getting this down and nailing the visuals. We had a good few brain storms around a table and finally this was where we landed.
We love ‘Something’ for its powerful message about embracing people for who they are. Society can be unforgiving, judgmental and unaccepting so we need such messages. How do you, as a band, remain true to your aesthetics without the fear of offending some members of the audience?
Yeah, I guess you never know what’s really going on in people’s heads because they think you think they’ll love, they hate and visa versa. So it’s like you say, just do what you do well and at very least it’ll be honest. Things just never seem to work when you start making art for the wrong reasons.
Conceptual fashion designer, Tzvi Karp’s distinct look is very hard to miss and we immediately recognised him in in the video. Why did you decide to feature him?
Tzvi is just this amazing person! He’s friends with Don from Tomfoolery and he just summed up everything we wanted to say. When you see him in the video, that’s exactly what he’s like, he’s not putting it on, and it’s awesome.
Since the official release, what kind of response have you been receiving for the video?
I recon it’s been close to the best response we’ve ever had for a video, people are loving it and watching it more than just once.
A lot of artists are adopting the growing trend of abstract music videos as opposed to the traditional music videos that carry content or a story that is in line with the lyrics of the song. What are your views on this?
Yeah I guess that’s probably just people going with the trend. The music industry is basically just a race to see who can stand out today, so every part of the marketing has got to do that. I think the abstract thing is cool in that it’s also art so you get this two evened thing happening where you decipher the song and the visual.
You recently released your second offering of the Form & Function Trilogy of EPs, Form & Function Part 2. How is that going and please tell us a bit more about it?
Finally it’s out! It’s taken us a long time to get it to the public due to a few factors. But we’re stoked! So far across the two parts, we’ve probably written 60 ideas to pick from, so we really have put our heads down and worked for it. We also chose to self produce these songs which was rad to do again.
What does your process of producing music involve?
It generally starts with myself or my brother Josh sitting behind a guitar or piano and finding a set of chords or groove and then singing over it. Once we got a solid melodic and hormonal idea we’ll take it to the band and we jam the idea for hours and hope it works. Generally lyrics seem to the the last part.
As an award winning band that has been enjoying tremendous success since inception, do you always feel pressured to keep outdoing yourselves?
Yeah, it’s good to have a bit of pressure to keep you pushing to be the best you can. I certainly don’t want to go backwards! I love the idea of progression and allowing what’s currently around you to affect your art. So you’ll hear even between the two parts quite a difference in sound.
You frequently perform at numerous music festivals. Does it feel different each time?
Yeah for sure, just the fact that it’s in a different city changes the vibe. Every time it’s this 50/50 whether people are going to commit to the show and have a good time or just be there, but let it just be a band on the stage.
Are you guys individually involved in any other projects besides music?
Yeah we like keeping busy, from bespoke magazines to building phone apps. Got to keep the creative juices flowing all the time. I always believed, foolishly, that I was probably only good at one thing. We underestimate our potential often! Creativity works across platforms and careers.
Can we expect any more music videos from Form & Function Part 2?
Yeah we’ve been chatting to guys about the video for ‘Something’ to get the next one ready because it can be a bit of a process to get it done.
