Following the launch of their single and video, the guys from Massacre House Party take turns telling Ramona Depares all about the journey from concept to recording and distribution.
Musicians Sylvan Borg, Aaron Sammut and Samwel Mallia are veteran names on the indie scene. With Borg having fronted Sputnik Sweetheart and been part of the now defunct Stilair, Sammut taking care of percussions with Dolls for Idols and Mallia playing guitar and bass with Juno and the Wolf, the three enjoy a strong following.
So it follows that when the trio decided to join forces for a new project called Massacre House Party, musical sparks were bound to fly. Now, just as autumn takes a firm hold, the band reminds us all about that sultry summer vibe with Uh Oh! – a rather hot single that comes accompanied by an even hotter video.
How did the whole idea come about?
Sylvan Borg: What happened with Uh Oh! was that during rehearsals, (bassist) Samwel was playing around with this particular two-chord bass line. Upon hearing this I started playing a guitar riff which was on a different scale but somehow appeared to fit in.
Aaron immediately joined in on drums and I started singing this particular high, falsetto vocal line to reflect the mood that we had started to create.
It was Aaron who occasionally began dropping in some “uh ohs” in between my vocal lines. Soon, we realised that we had written a song with a summery, 1960s surf vibe, where the main hook up line would be the words “uh oh”.
When it came to the lyrics I made sure that the words reflect the whole idea behind the song. The lyrics basically talk about a guy who is at a beach party, where the band is playing this song and he is falling for a girl who is “beaming like a super star”.
Each band member contributed to the writing of the song and that’s why it is so special for us, as we all contributed differently to it.
Can you explain the style of the video?
Samwel Mallia: We wanted to make the listener dive deeper into that vintage surfy vibe and we thought we could achieve this by rhythmically combining a number of clips from the 1960s and 1970s that simply show people dancing, surfing and going crazy.
The video’s director, Liza Mallia, tried to also bind the footage with the lyrics at different parts of the song, so you’d get a glimpse of this classy girl in a bikini who “looks so fine” at that exact moment she is referred to in the song . This is done with a steady and swift pace. We wanted the vibrant clips cutting into each other to give that extra visual push and make the colour and groove of the sound pop out further.
Each band member contributed to the writing of the song and that’s why it is so special for us
What can you tell us about the artwork?
Aaron Sammut: It’s became a tradition to issue a physical copy of the single with every release. For us it’s a reward of the recording process. The printing, packaging and burning of the CD is all self–made. We make use of the resources around us. The image on the cover complements and reflects the nature of the song and the video. It’s a whole package in the end.
How long did the whole process take?
SB: The music and lyrics were written in a matter of minutes. It eventually got refined with each rehearsal and with every gig, according to the reaction of the crowd.
By mid-August we had another finished recorded song in our hands and were planning on producing that song’s video while releasing Uh Oh! as a single. However, upon hearing this track, Dolls for Idols man Clint Spiteri offered to record and produce it.
It was basically recorded in a day. Mixing took another two days and by the end of the week the song was mastered by Daniel Talma. It took us a few more days to do the artwork and produce some physical DIY CDs and distribute a very limited number to the people out there.
What were the biggest challenges?
SM: The process of writing and later recording this song was effortless. Everything came along very nicely and rather quickly. But, I guess, the biggest challenge was having to somewhat slightly re-imagine the song for the recorded version.
Playing it live at that instant moment is one thing but recording makes you deconstruct and think about the song in ways you wouldn’t normally during a rehearsal.
This allows you to think about those extra elements of the song and make them better or add new elements to create that extra kick or cushion; yet this also comes with its own frustration.
At the end of it all such challenges breathe new life into the song and allow us to understand and relate to it on deeper levels. This part of the process is very rewarding.
Any future gigs planned?
AS: Gigging is always on our mind. It’s what keeps us enthusiastic and active. In a way it’s an incentive to work harder and come up with something new for the audience.
We have a couple of gigs coming up in the next months, but we cannot comment on them just yet as it is all relatively early. It is an honour for us when we get approached by bands and promoters from various scenes to play with and for them.