Moncton indie prog-rock band, FM Berlin, recently released a new video for their track ‘Yer Honour’, marking the release of their debut album At Least You’re Having Fun, this week.
According to the band’s lead singer, Corey Hachey, ‘Yer Honour’ is about a concept coined by high fantasy giant J.R.R. Tolkien: a ‘eucatastrophe.’
“When things are most dire and bleak, if you can keep the right mindset, that’s when everything can turn around,” he adds. “If you keep that mindset, when things are at their worst, they can be changed in an instant.”
The repeated lyrics “I ain’t goin’ down” act as a reminder of that notion.
The video was filmed and directed by Don Levandier of ECMA winners The Motorleague. The video shows the four band members playing their instruments as if it were a live performance in a dark room. Different camera angles and focal points help give the viewer a feeling of actually being there in the room with the band.
While it was actually shot in a basement home studio, a red FM Berlin sign that resembles an ‘on air’ radio sign lights up the back, giving the room a semblance of a radio recording studio—maybe putting the FM in FM Berlin. The room also contains a handful of mysterious props in the back: a mannequin head, a porcelain statuette, maybe worse things. They make you question even further where the band might be. Choice in decor aside, the band tell us the basement is also where they recorded the drums for their new record.
The song’s catchy lyrics play over an upbeat rhythm that makes you want to move. With the wide vocal range, the solid drumbeat and a memorable, repeated guitar riff, the track calls to mind The Police’s ‘Message in a Bottle.’ However, ‘Yer Honour‘ sounds much more modern than the 1979 hit.
The band’s hard work is paying off. “Our entire record, studio, and video were all self funded. Every penny that went into [them] was money earned from live performances,” says Hachey.