The Academic: Channeling Creativity in Quarantine
★ by Molly Alexander ★
After opening for the likes of the Rolling Stones and The Strokes, The Academic — an Irish rock band — finds newfound success in lockdown. Whether it be through exclusive online live shows or Zoom Q&As with fans, the group always gives their fans more reasons to keep listening.
In preparation for their latest EP, Acting My Age, Pure Nowhere was fortunate to attend a Zoom press conference hosted by the 1824 press team. Through questions and live performance, we learned more about channeling their creativity and adjusting their vision in a changing social landscape.
Quarantine has had an unexpected effect on their music, bringing new life to their single, “Anything Can Happen.” Initially, the darker lyrics were slated to become a conceptual video but things took an unexpected turn when lockdown halted their filming plans. The band describes:
“When we wrote the song, we thought that the lyrics were quite dark, about ‘saving all your feelings for a Saturday night’ and ‘in an apartment with a girl you don’t like.’ We thought it was about people who were kinda stuck in a bit of a rut and people who weren’t particularly happy, trying to get control over their life back.”
If they were going to release a video, they’d have to make it work from quarantine. With the help of their directors, they shifted to a more DIY approach centered on quarantined couples. The band explained that by featuring “couples falling madly in love during quarantine, it gave the song a completely different meaning for us. I find it incredibly upbeat and about happiness now, which was not what we were thinking about the song when we originally wrote it.”
This visual collage provides an unfettered glimpse into their lives, splicing performance clips with home videos of couples in quarantine. You'll see how love finds new ground in both the digital and real world, featuring everything from a long distance couple turned housemates to an older man quarantined on a boat with the love of his life. Amongst the spontaneous dance parties and moments these couples share, comes a deeper layer of patience and understanding. Together these clips stand as intimate yet playful vignettes of modern love. The video marks a visual departure from their viral music video for their 2017 single “Bear Claws,” peeling back the layers of illusory camera movements to reveal honest lyrics and instrumentation.
“‘I think accepting that you won’t nail it is a good thing and it helps you get those bad ideas out and eventually you will get to the good ones.’”
Quarantine has pushed the group to readjust their songwriting process and discover inspiration in overlooked places. “At the beginning, we found it a bit strange to try and be creative because it was such a serious thing that was happening and we had tours being canceled,” the band explains. Their life on the road with constant access to each other’s feedback was replaced by an abundance of solitude and independence. While the band continues to record remotely, Craig Fitzgerald, the lead singer, explained how the songwriting has proved to be a greater challenge:
“When life isn’t happening, there isn’t much inspiration going on — you can only write so many songs about going for a walk and a dog you see.” But amongst the monotony, they strive to “constantly write, even if it’s a bad song about a dog, it’s good to just practice the muscle even if you’re not feeling it, ‘cause you might learn something, you might nail it, and I think accepting that you won’t nail it is a good thing and it helps you get those bad ideas out and eventually you will get to the good ones.” They’ve broken through the monotony by finding inspiration in old movies and the music of the Talking Heads.
In addition to catching up on movies and music, The Academic takes time to aid in social progress. The band explains that beyond just consuming, now, more than ever there is a need to “[try] to understand things that you don’t understand in the world and just [try] to push your mind a little bit more.” They are using their platform to bring down Direct Provision, a system in Ireland built on inhumane and cruel treatment of asylum-seeking refugees. In sharing resources and petitions, the band hopes to inspire local change to end the group. In asserting their social consciousness, they’re fostering a greater sense of community within their fan base and beyond.
“Anything Can Happen” is just one part of the auditory assemblage they create on their EP, Acting My Age. Released on July 10, this marks their first record with Columbia Records and producer, Nick Hodgson, drummer of the Kaiser Chiefs. Within six tracks they’ve tinged their signature indie-rock sound with a newfound sense of curiosity, bouncing from gritty guitar to cinematic synth. As a whole, there’s both a youthful grit and a newfound emotional poignancy, which concludes in a stripped-down ballad, crafting a humble love story for listeners.
Post-COVID, the group hopes that this is the much-needed industry push in shining a light on smaller artists unable to support themselves through traditional ticket sales. Beyond digital support, they are confident this time will stretch the power and capabilities of music. Craig encapsulates this sentiment by saying:
“A lot of things have happened in the last couple of months that have made me try and be more aware of what’s happening in the world and I want to bring that into our music in a greater way moving forward.” With this self-awareness and creative drive at the forefront, there’s a bright future ahead for The Academic.
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