By: Sharp Notes Editors
LA trio, Tashaki Miyaki, explorers of dreamy, hazy, melodic guitar pop are releasing their latest album, Castaway, due out July2nd on Metropolis Records. Today they release the video to another cut from the album, the upbeat new single "Wasting Time", accompanied by a striking video shot on 16mm on the Central Coast of California. Watch the video via FOXES MAGAZINE and share via YouTube. Track will be out on all DSPs next Friday, June 4th.
Paige Stark says,
“This song is kind of it’s own thing. It was one of the last songs I wrote for the record, and I wasn’t sure it fit the vibe, but in the end we decided it was nice to have variety and different colors/ feels on the record. It’s a song about anxiety and I wanted it to feel really wild. I wanted to combine what we do with a kind of power pop vibe. I imagined Keith Moon style drums, and I don’t really play like that so I invited my friend Richard Gowen to play drums on this song. I like that it has a different energy. I wanted to create a kind of 70’s feel on this song but have it still feel right now, and I think we got that energy. The sonic inspirations were The Kinks 'Lola vs Powerman' and Bigstar’s 'Number 1 Record'”.
About the video, Stark says:
“This song is the most upbeat and playful on the record, so I wanted to make something fun and special. This video was made for my 8 year old self. It’s inspired by a bunch of movies I watched as a kid: Watcher in the Woods, Practical Magic, Witches of Eastwick, Teen Witch, The Craft, and of course the TV show Charmed. I wanted to play around with ancient film tricks- so being able to pop disappear was the perfect fit. We shot in the Central Coast of California, which is one of my favorite places on Earth. I have been going there since I was a kid and it has a magical quality for me…it’s the Snoqualmie to my Twin Peaks. As a kid visiting, I dreamed up all kinds of stories, so it was super fun to bring that vision to life. This is a collaboration with DP Arlene Muller (who also shot Gone and Castaway) and we shot on 16mm on two different cameras, so there’s some different textures in the video. We got super lucky to get so much dreamy fog as well.”
Their new album, Castaway features guest appearances from The Heartbreaker’s Benmont Tench, multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion (who also aided in mixing the record), and local LA legend, Joel Jerome. The record is produced by Stark who guided the band to push themselves into new spaces. They tried to deconstruct their own sound and reboot from that place, while letting some beloved influences echo throughout. Paige says, “We tried to incorporate new soundscapes. Like, what if there isn’t as much reverb on everything? What would be the less obvious sonic choice here? What if everything isn’t as fuzzy and smeary? What sounds have we not tried? What if we let stuff be a little naked?”
Stark pushed her boundaries lyrically on the new record, going deeper and more personal, never shying away from uncomfortable emotions. “When I wrote the title track, I was thinking about love and how it changes over time if you stay in something long enough. It gets hard. And sometimes you feel stuck, and that’s kind of the mood of the record. It’s a pretty melancholy record, I guess. I always try to be direct, but I didn’t have as much life lived on the first record. I saw things very black and white, and perhaps simpler. Now I see a lot more grey and a lot more complexity. “