Vancouver’s sophisticated alt-pop outfit Her Brothers, made up of brothers, Levi, Josh, and Gabe Penner, have just released their fourth music video, “Innocent“, from their new album, “Tribe“. The song is an intertwining of 90’s new wave alongside the alt-rock vocal stylings of Gabe Penner who delicately delivers the verses before introducing the listener to a chorus of vulnerable bravado. The song has already made its way onto multiple Spotify curated playlists alongside artists such as Zayn, 5SOS and Eastern Canada’s New City.
This is the band’s first video shooting underwater. The concept originated from the song’s theme of feeling boxed in and trapped by one’s mental health; eventually drowning in the sea of negative self talk, anxieties or depression. Holding to their DIY punk roots the band built their own 12’ by 12’ cube in a studio where they filmed the majority of the video with filmmaker Tim Bryce (who has previously worked with the band on their videos for Human and Wake Up).
Hugh Allen was brought on board to shoot scenes underwater with Gabe as the cube filled up with water and eventually is seen buckling and releasing a torrent of water straight into band members Levi and Josh who have been outside the cube the whole time. Together, Hugh and Gabe spent 6 hours filming in the cold October waters.
The video was predominantly produced by Levi Penner, who has produced the bands previous videos, alongside Hugh and Tim. Levi: “When we first came up with the idea I remember Tim and Hugh saying, “if you can pull this off… we’ll film it haha!” which of course meant that we had to figure out how to actually build a massive cube that could hold Gabe and be built inside the studio we shot in. It took a lot of creative thinking but we finally got it.”
Gabe mentioned regarding this video that “we wanted to do something that really showcased, for myself but also as a band, how isolating mental health issues can be. Depression, anxiety, negative self talk, fear, whatever it may be, can be incredibly isolating which is terrifying if the one thing you want is to feel someone beside you – to be seen. For me at least in this social media craze i find it indubitably easy to share what I might be feeling or perceiving of myself online. But sharing my fears, anxiety, feelings of complete alienation and lack of worth face to face with another human being is incredibly vulnerable. It’s one thing to be alone and another to feel alone in an entire crowd. I find it deafening, that isolation; I find i’m drowning and no one can hear me screaming.”
The video ends with the band drenched in the water that has burst from the cube. When they shot it Josh said “I originally was gonna use my Fender Jazz but then I realized we were actually gonna get soaked… so we picked up a set of drums and another bass to take the beating. Instruments were harmed in the making of this video. But hey, it’s not rock’n’roll if nothing gets trashed!”
You can catch Her Brothers Feb 2nd at Vancouver’s Venue, tickets can be purchased at herbrothers.com/tour
.png)
.png)