Port Cities have put together a video of a stripped down version of fellow bandmate Dylan Guthro’s ‘Dance On Me’. It’s the subtle shift in gears that takes you from a “Damn, gurl!” down to an “Mmmm, gurl.”*
What’s important to know about Port Cities is that they’re a supergroup of sorts. Breagh Mackinnon, Dylan Guthro, Carleton Stone – these were all up-and-comers launching their own successful careers as acknowledged musicians and songwriters. But birds of a feather are known to form a band from time to time.
“We are always writing songs together in different styles and genres for ourselves or different artists,” says Stone. “This song seemed to fit best with Dylan’s more pop/RnB style, so it seemed fitting that he would be the one to record it. We thought Port Cities cover of it is just a fun way to show people another layer of our band as songwriters and music lovers.”
So Port Cities have taken what Guthro’s dancey little ode to picking up in a club for a one night stand, traded out the drum machine for some congas, and turned it into something a little more low-key, with a smooth R&B feel. It’s the same song, but different strokes for different folks, or maybe even just a matter of what point in the night you’re at.
The band manage to put that into somewhat more palatable terms. Perhaps they’ve manage to hone a still-gleaming sense of optimism that comes in the early and intoxicating period of any new encounter. But don’t they all start that way?
“The song was written from the point of view of a person who just got out of a relationship and is meeting someone new for the first time, and the excitement that comes along with that. We tried to keep the lyrics very conversational and incorporate lines that keep the interaction casual and fun – basically keeping any pressure of a new relationship out of their interaction.”
Filmed atop Halifax’s ever glamorous Casino Nova Scotia parking garage, the video gives us a fun and catchy song, paired with a strong sense of 1:50am. So let’s dance up on this.
*As reclusive writers, all of this is hypothetical and strictly a matter of book learning, though I may have seen an illustration once. #TheMysteriesOfLife