Capital Cities going Safe and Sound

By Geoffrey RowlandsCraigslist has earned a reputation for bringing people together. The Internet classified ads website is responsible for a number of musical mergers. One of these is Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian who make up the Los Angeles-based indie-pop duo Capital Cities.“I put an ad on Craigslist offering my production services,” Sebu recalled. “Not that I had any kind of reputation as a producer. I just hoped to meet people with whom I could maybe find a way into the music business.”“My response was based around the same lines,” Ryan admitted. “I wasn’t part of the music establishment but I wanted to be. I figured working with a producer who I expected to have links with at least one or two influential people might be a way for me to break into the music scene.”The boys developed an instant friendship. But with neither having any record label contacts, their first financially beneficial work together was as jingle writers for radio commercials.“We did this kind of thing for about three years,” Sebu stated. “We actually became pretty successful. We started out just writing jingles but progressed to effectively creating entire campaigns from the basic ideas brought to us by the advertising companies.”Despite this success, Ryan and Sebu still harboured the desire to become recording artists. In 2011, they released Capital Cities’ self-titled debut EP on their own Lazy Hooks label. The lead single was Safe and Sound.“We put together a video for Safe and Sound which went viral on the Internet,” Ryan explained. “We found these old clips of people dancing and mixed them with very brief clips of warfare. The juxtaposition of the joy of dancing and the horrors of war really caught people’s attention. The video got millions of views.”Having a viral video did not translate into solid record sales. Ironically though, it did attract the interest of advertising companies.“There were quite a few people who wanted to use Safe and Sound in their campaigns,” Sebu smiled. “Our old profession kind of kept us afloat while we tried to establish ourselves on the music scene.”Some of the music originally intended for commercials became the basis of Capital Cities songs and can now be heard on their debut album, In a Tidal Wave of Mystery.“We had a lot of good stuff which didn’t get used in the ads,” Ryan remarked. “It would have been wasteful if we hadn’t developed some of these melodies into complete songs.”Their deal with Capitol Records gave Capital Cities the opportunity to make a more professional video for the re-release of Safe and Sound.“The label bosses wanted to promote us around Safe and Sound,” Sebu explained. “It made sense because the song was widely known through its use in commercials so people should have been interested in hearing the full version. We kept the basic theme of dancing for the new video which was so good that it won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Visual Effects.”Now promoted by not one but two of the most popular videos on the Internet, Safe and Sound reached number eight on Billboard’s Hot 100 and topped the Alternative Songs chart. It also became an international success going top ten in numerous countries and hitting pole position in Germany.“In many ways, creating advertising jingles was the perfect preparation for writing pop songs,” Ryan reflected. “We knew how to quickly gain the attention of listeners. That’s half the battle. But the rest of the song has to be just as good as the hook line. That’s the difficult part. We’ve achieved this with Safe and Sound so we’ll keep trying to do likewise with as many songs as possible in the future.”inbriefKaty PerryKaty Perry currently has the distinction of simultaneously topping both the US and UK charts with her latest single, Roar. She will also close the month-long UK iTunes Festival with a concert at the Roundhouse in London on September 30.As with all other shows in the festival, Katy’s performance will be streamed live on the Internet for free via the iTunes website. It can also be seen on other devices using the official app. Those unable to watch live still have the opportunity to see Katy’s show along with every other iTunes Festival gig. Each performance is archived and available to view on demand.Among the artists to have appeared so far are Lady GaGa, Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon. Robin Thicke, Tinie Tempah and Justin Timberlake are some of the major names performing over the next few days.NirvanaToday sees the 20th anniversary re-release of Nirvana’s final album, In Utero.Like most commemorative re-releases, the product is issued in several different packages. In Utero is available in four formats. These range from a single CD featuring a re-mastered version of the original album through to a three-CD and one-DVD box set containing more than 70 re-mastered, remixed, rare and unreleased recordings including B-sides, compilation tracks, demos and live material.The DVD is also being sold as an individual item. It houses Nirvana’s complete ‘Live and Loud’ concert at Seattle’s Pier 48 on December 13, 1993, plus a host of bonus performances.The original In Utero album can be heard in full at www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXWeb7Noya4.Sons of the seaIncubus vocalist Brandon Boyd has joined forces with producer / multi-instrumentalist Brendan O’Brien and drummer Josh Freese to form a new band, Sons of the Sea.“Brendan produced the last three Incubus albums,” Brandon stated. “He is such a talented person that I wanted to work with him on different musical ideas which were not really suitable for Incubus. Lady Black was the first song we wrote. It was a kind of seed song which made us realise we could create an entire album.”Their debut EP, Compass, was issued last June. All four songs are available to hear at www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BNqJiJUrj4. Official videos were made for two tracks. Lady Black is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-nl2PoKr_c  while the URL for new single, Come Together, is www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf33rWiu5J8.If you enjoy their music, the band’s self-titled first album has just been released.John legendCongratulations on their recent marriage to American R&B star John Legend, real name John Stephens, and model Chrissy Teigen. The ceremony was held amid a romantic setting on the shores of Lake Como at the hotel Villa Pizzo in Italy. The couple began dating in 2007 and became engaged two years ago. Their wedding venue was specially selected as it was where they first fell in love.All arrangements were made by a wedding planner. John and Chrissy were apparently too busy with their respective careers to do anything themselves.Chrissy did choose her own wedding dress. It was one of three gowns she purchased from designer Vera Wang. Her eye was seemingly caught by different dresses every time she went for a fitting.John has revealed that most of the songs on his latest LP, Love in the Future, were written about Chrissy. The entire album can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=u21G6j1D318.