I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with a long-time favorite band of mine: Video Age. Video Age has most recently released their third album, Pleasure Line, an album with heavy synths, drum machines and lyrics about all kinds of love from platonic to romantic.
The Louisiana-based band consists of Ross Farbe as the vocalist and guitarist and Ray Micarelli on the drums. Having released their debut album in 2016, the band is a staple for any synthwave-bedroom pop fanatic.
The interview was so much fun as the band discussed music video inspirations, standing out amongst the crowd and what retro film the band would love to feature in, the answer for which was the 1986 Romantic Comedy: Heartburn starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson. However one of my favorite parts of the interview was near the beginning in which we discussed what drew the band to the classically retro sounds of the 80’s, to which lead singer Ross responded with:
“You know, I think. We have always been interested in song-writing in a more like almost 60s sense. Growing up listening to a lot British bands like the (Rolling) Stones, The Kinks and David Bowie and stuff like that. And then when we realized we got really tired of writing everything on a guitar and everything sounded like guitar music and it was like ‘you know what? I am tired of this guitar pop world’. So, we got a synthesizer and so we were like ‘let’s just try some things and experiment a little bit’ and of course the synth we got was from the 80s and it just sounded it had a nostalgic sound to it right out of the box… and we just got stuck in a drum machine synth world.”
I personally get tired of listening to guitar music within 20 minutes, this is coming from somebody who in fact plays guitar. I can’t imagine how repetitive it must get for singer-songwriters to constantly be writing songs on the same instrument. I think part of the reason why synths and drum machines are becoming such a staple in bedroom pop is not just because of accessibility but because it offers the artist a more unique channel to write music. I think that our eardrums have grown a bit tired of hearing the same singer-songwriter guitar strums with the same 5 chords, something as unique as a synth and drum machine give that techno almost alien sound to a track that helps it stand out amongst the crowd. Just look at the latest music coming from The Weeknd and Dua Lipa. Synthwave is coming back after nearly 40 years, and I am honestly living for it.
Video Age’s Pleasure Line Vinyl is finally back in stock so I am definitely going to be picking that up, and if you are wanting to see the band live (as I am), Video Age stated that they are eager to do tours but are waiting for the pandemic to subside, so be sure to follow the band on their various social media and add them to your “bandsintown” app to find out when they are coming to a city near you. In the meantime I am going to listen to the Pleasure Line Vinyl and attempt to play a synth I recently got at my local thrift store!
The group can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @videoageband. Their discography can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.