NYS Music 20​17

Tag: ants

  • Exclusive: Shouthouse Debuts Video for “ANTS”

    New York City ensemble Shouthouse debuted their single “ANTS” last week on NYS Music, and today, they debut an elaborately choreographed music video for the tune. Watch below.

    Composed by pianist Will Healy, shot and edited by Jack Frerer and colorized by Bobby Wagnerman at Haym Pictures, the music video traverses the city and combines various elements of New York City with “ANTS,” bringing two complex components together for one multi-dimensional video. Healy spoke with NYS Music about the video:

    “Living in New York can become oddly isolating, even though there are so many people living there together. As you move through the streets and subways, it’s easy to feel alone in a crowd. There is an impersonal atmosphere in New York, and any amount of self expression can be seen as bizarre, shocking, or dangerous.

    shouthouse video ants“For this video, I wanted each rapper and dancer to slowly transform from a normal face into the crowd into artists. As the music plays, they are shown walking or standing, and over time they separate from those around them, transitioning into movements and verses that express their inner dialogue.

    “I wanted the viewer to get a sense of the different sides and heights of urban living, progressing from underground in the subways to ground level in Times Square, and finally on a roof overlooking East Harlem.

    “We had a blast shooting this video. Any excuse to interrupt the routine among commuters gets great reactions (especially the shots on the escalator!). There are also so many interesting spots to shoot, the city was our playground for the day. There are three dancers in the video–Taylor LaBruzzo and Zach Gonder from Juilliard, and Quilan Arnold, who is a Brooklyn-based hip hop dancer. It was great to see their different styles interact, and they did a great job visually representing our unique style of music-making through their different genres of dance.”

    Shouthouse performs next at Shapeshifter Lab in Gowanus, Brooklyn, on October 6. More info can be found here.

  • Exclusive Premiere of ‘ANTS’ by NYC Ensemble Shouthouse

    Shouthouse, a 16-piece chamber orchestra from New York City has released their latest has released their single “ANTS” through NYS Music. Combining elements of jazz, hip-hop, and classical music, Shouthouse brings together talented artists from various backgrounds to achieve a new form of expression through powerful music while telling stories through notes, structures and words.

    ShoutHouse began in 2012 as members of the afrobeat/hip-hop band Yes Noyes collaborated with orchestral musicians and composers. Over the past five years, the group has grown into a small orchestra and a large community of performing artists. Altogether, the project includes more than fifty musicians, dancers, visual artists, poets, and rappers. In 2016, Shouthouse worked with hophop and classical dancers, to develop choreographed performances, first presented at The DiMenna Center as part of their CrossCurrents series.

    “ANTS” is part of a series of pieces that reflect on New York City, imagined through different time periods. Shouthouse’s upcoming album has pieces that are about the distant past, 1940’s New York, and the distant, dystopian future. For “ANTS”, pianist Will Healy shares “We were thinking about what modern life is like in an urban hive – a combination of massive, overwhelming concrete and exhilarating, fast-paced life. The track is constantly active with notes and fast changes, and the lyrics are full of stories, metaphors and references that all circle back to the concept of being a part of modern day life as specks in the big city.”

    “ANTS” features Bush Tea and Nuri Hazzard, with music by Will Healy. The song was produced by Harrison Keithline and Tyler Wood and mixed and engineered by Jack Frerer, with additional editing from Mikkel Christensen and Skei’n Studios. Shouthouse’s orchestra includes Megan Atchley (violin), Allison Mase (violin), Drew Forde (viola), Olivia Harris (cello), Luiz Bacchi (bass), Jack Gulielmetti (electric guitar), David Valbuena (clarinet), Kelley Barnett (flute) Jesse Greenberg (vibraphone/glockenspiel), Aaron Ewing (drumset), Will Healy (piano) and conducted by Alex Burtzos.

    Stay tuned next week for the premiere of Shouthouse’s video for “Ants,” exclusively from NYS Music. Follow Shouthouse on Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud and YouTube.