RVA indie rock band Manatree has warmed our hearts with their upbeat, fun tunes since first stepping onto the RVA music scene in 2014.
RVA indie rock band Manatree has warmed our hearts with their upbeat, fun tunes since first stepping onto the RVA music scene in 2014.
The four-piece consisting of Jack Mayock (vocals, guitar), Tristan Fisher (guitar, vocals), Noma Illmensee (bass, vocals) and Alex Elder( percussion) have been busy creating and filming a new music video for their song “Fat Jackson,” which they will premiere at The Camel this weekend.
“Fat Jackson” is a song off the band’s debut album, which they dropped in July 2015, but was actually written five years ago. Mayock said instead of going the DIY route to create a video, they wanted someone else to put their creative spin on it.
“We’ve done a few music videos ourselves and we kind of wanted to see what would happen if we put it into someone else’s hands because it can be a really involved, stressful process,” he said.
The video was made by VCUarts junior Mitchell Craft, who the band reached out to a few months back after seeing some of his previous work that they liked. They started filming about a month ago in Craft’s apartment on Broad Street.
“He basically just filmed us on a blue screen and I guess it’s his interpretation of the song and expressing that using footage of us,” he said. “It’s really cool, it’s this whole floor of a warehouse that’s been converted into a living space, but there’s no walls or anything, kind of like a concept apartment. It was a cool creative space.”
Mayock said they let Craft run with the concept of the video and didn’t give him too much input on what they wanted.
For those that haven’t heard the song, its upbeat, energetic and fun and touches on the ups and downs of changing through your younger years.
“It’s about the nostalgia of growing up and how things kind of change throughout your adolescence,” Mayock said.
You can check out a clip from the video below:
Manatree has been on a roll releasing new material lately. The band released a new video for their song “Animal Quietlies” in August which you can check out below.
For now Mayock said the band, who is signed to local label Egghunt Records, is focusing on writing their next album.
“We have a good amount of new songs that we play at all of our live shows that are definitely I think, a different direction from the first album,” Mayock said. “It’s still in the beginning stages, but we’re eventually trying to have the new album out by next year.”
Manatree will perform and screen their new video for “Fat Jackson” at The Camel this Sat. Oct. 8 alongside The Trillions, Camp Howard, and Hot Reader. Show starts at 9 pm. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.
You can also catch them performing at Belly Timber for Nightmare on Plum Street Oct. 29
