Strange Neighbors first unleashed their jangly power pop onto the New York scene in 2018. Founded by vocalist Aidan and drummer Tracey, they soon brought guitarist Zach into the mix through a Facebook ad. It remains one of the three all-time positive outcomes of social media. Their new single and video for “Window Watching,” is a nostalgic and vibrant track with Indie vibes steadily laced throughout. The video shows the true essence and nature of the band which further brings the song to life.

After a few early singles and some lineup changes, the band brought along bassist Dana to record their debut album “How to Human” in early 2019. Taking influence from the power pop and pop punk of the band’s youth, the album’s eight songs are characterized by sparkling guitars, intricate bass lines, rock solid beats and impassioned vocals, a mix of the old and new.

The band followed up with the “Illuminasti” EP in 2020 and marked their live comeback as a live act with the single “Mystic Piers” in July of 2021. They have continued recording, writing and performing into 2022. Since their formation, Strange Neighbors have played at popular New York City haunts like Piano’s, The Bitter End, Arlene’s Grocery, Mercury Lounge, Knitting Factory, and more.

Raimie is one of our favorite emerging artists for 2022 and he shows no sign of slowing down. The artist who recently released his new single and video for “Insecure,” is making a splash at the top of his game. A self-defined “hip-hop outsider” he delivers a pensive confessional track that will have you intrigued. Born in New Jersey and currently Los Angeles based, Raimie creates a sound and vibe that is truly his own.  We had the honor of speaking with Raimie as he dives into his new video for “Insecure” below.

Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 

Ultimately, I chose to visualize Insecure because I knew that it needed something extra, something special to help people not just hear about the trauma and hard times but to see it firsthand as well. I think the visual experience really enhances the vulnerability and sincerity of the track and gives viewers a different lens for understanding the song itself. My main goal with this song was to relate to others who have felt similar emotions to the ones portrayed, and so it was important for me to have the listener/viewer be able to actually see me go through the emotions the song details.

What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

I’m really happy to say that visually there were really no external influences, just myself and KHaus Studios, who shot the visuals. And that was really important to me – that the inspiration came strictly from the combination of hearing the song and letting our imaginations dictate the visual storyline. I needed that because this song is me, genuine and raw, this song is really an encapsulation of the extremes I often feel emotionally. So in the approach, I knew I had to captivate by sharing my story and my story only. Khaus did an amazing job helping turn my ideas into a visual and we worked seamlessly together finding the locations and creating the concepts of the story with them in mind. Ultimately, the goal was just to be as authentic as possible, and I truly feel like the result was the product of staying true to my vision.

What was the process of making this video?

The process was amazing, it was such a blessing to be working with KHaus because of how our ideas aligned. We started with general storyboards, ideas, sketches, and concepts for how to approach capturing the essence of the song. We nailed down a couple of locations and figured out wardrobe, accessories, props, etc. A few scenes really stand out to me as the perfect culmination of my and KHaus’ ideas coming together. One of those would be the rain room, which added a really cool tinge of nuanced sadness to the video. I think rain or more generally stormy, cloudy weather really portrays the concepts of the song, and shooting that scene was a special experience. The whole process felt seamless, and was done over one day, probably about 10 hours of shooting and traveling to the different locations.

NGHTMRE and SLANDER have produced numerous hit tracks over the past few years, including “Gud Vibrations” in 2016, which eventually led to the creation of their record label, aptly named, Gud Vibrations. With both artists seen as festival mainstays, it comes as no surprise that they have taken over various festival stages around the world including Ultra and EDC and embarked on their own global tours.

“Fall Into Me” is a true festival classic, incorporating signature elements from each artist, including NGHTMRE’s meticulous production skills and SLANDER’s distinctive sounds with the juxtaposition between peaceful piano chords and melodic bass in the background. Adding to this, the powerful music video takes the audience through a peculiar journey of a man and his perplexing dream of a woman. The unique 2D animation style brings out the retrospective context with constant scene change to showcase flashbacks of the dream. Perplexing at first, the ambiguity of the characters’ relationship gradually unfolds itself as the story releases little hints of explanation as it progresses. With each scene change matching the beats of the music perfectly, the music video is flawlessly assimilated with the music. Throughout the scene, the theme of “fall into me” is also shown both literally and figuratively as both characters fall into space repeatedly and spark chemistry whenever their eyes meet. Altogether, this exquisite production highlights the novelty, evocative, and mysterious elements NGHTMRE and SLANDER’s music embodies.

NGHTMRE performed twice at Ultra Music Festival 2022 and will headline his ‘NGHTMRE: INTO THE DRMVRSE’ performance at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater April 15 in Morrison, Colorado with support from Kill The Noise, Dimension, Knock2, and Nitepunk. Tickets can be found at https://nghtmre.com/pages/tour.

The partnership between Dylan Matthew and SLANDER became a worldwide phenomena in 2020 with the remix release of his original acoustic soundtrack “Love is Gone,” racking up more than 17 million views on YouTube and millions of streams on Spotify. However, the American singer had yet to work with the iconic productions created by NGHTMRE, endlessly teasing his fans on social media up to the track’s release date with small previews of the song. This collaboration is guaranteed to highlight each artists’ signatures as well as the extraordinary, newfound relationship between the three. Along with “Fall Into Me,” the singer-songwriter is currently wrapping up his fifth EP, which will be releasing later this year, as well as developing a joint album and tour with SLANDER. With his ability to perform on a variety of different levels and his vocals capturing the attention of millions, Matthew has become one of the most watched artists of the year.

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Juvon Taylor is one of Toronto’s most talented hidden gems. His soul sound derives from a few places: the pentecostal church choir, the guitar and Toronto’s music scene. He began writing at the age of 13, and years later while singing in subway stations his soaring vocals were discovered by Canadian artist Melanie Fiona. 

“LMK” was born on the Clubhouse app, where he met Ottmar Miller in a virtual room of songwriters and producers sharing their art. Juvon freestyled over Ottmar’s beat and the rest was history. The new single explores the make-or-break trajectory of a relationship.

Halifax-based singer Willie Stratton has proven time and again that he can dive into any of rock ‘n’ roll’s various iterations—heartsick blues, twanged-up country, hip-shaking rockabilly, groovy surf—and emerge as a maestro of the style. On his forthcoming LP, Stratton seeks synthesis: Drugstore Dreamin’ finds him playing alchemist, melting down the myriad sounds he’s mastered over the years to create singular sonic gold. As Stratton deftly weaves and mixes musical forms, Drugstore Dreamin’s intoxicating concoction brings his timeless songwriting to the forefront.

Through the lush, rolling Americana of “Caroline,” Stratton tells the Herzogian tale of the Caroline affair—one of the defining losses in William Lyon Mackenzie’s Upper Canada Rebellion, during which a group of Canadian rebels fled to a Niagara River island only to be overtaken by British forces, who seized their ship, set it ablaze, and floated it down the river toward the falls. 

The Man Who’s anthemic sound has caught the alt rock scene by storm. With close to 30 million streams on their debut Bet on You EP, the trio has spent the last year honing their craft and have set out to return with their best work yet.

Groovy new single, “Cage,” captures a real emotion that The Man Who were feeling at the time. It was the first song they wrote after parting ways with the label they were signed to. There were no hard feelings at all, and this is in no way a “diss track,” but when you are young and thrown into an unfamiliar situation, there can be a lot of excitement mixed with a lot of confusion, and sometimes it just takes a bit of a hard hit to be able to see things straight.