Following up "Oceanic Landscapes", and "Dream of Bees"; Sardinia by London duo Lilies On Mars debut the video for, "For The First 3 Years". Found on their recently released album Dot To Dot from Saint Marie Records; let Lisa Masia and Marina Crisofalo take you through the past like a swim through a dye casted aquarium.
On the visual presentation of, "For The First 3 Years", turn back the pages from yesterday's diary entries with the haunting harmonization from Masia and Crisofalo. The synths beep, buzz and hum like the instruments from a plane in flight. As the billowing colors of ink expand and contort over video images of the Lilies; "3 Years" travels in the forgotten crevices of time where dub echo chamber of percussion sends the sensation of the vocals and the entire arrangement into the planetary constellations of space. Lilies on Mars take you deep into the galaxy, where memory and the feelings of the future cohabit the same environments.
Lilies On Mars' Lisa and Marina corresponded with us for a bit while on the road with Fanfarlo:
What inspired the time passages of the gorgeous song, "For the First 3 Years"?
This song was originally an improvisation of 45 minutes, basically our first approach with the legendary Roland SH 404 synth. We were jamming with our friend and collaborator Valentina Magaletti on drums at our studio in London. It was 3 o'clock in the morning and we were all completely immersed in a magic trip made of echoes and oscillations! We have recorded the whole session and initially we thought about keeping most of it as an instrumental track, although as soon as we went back to Sardinia we felt those sounds perfectly explaining the feeling we were experiencing at that particular moment. A feeling of non belonging and "For The First 3 Years" became a song.
What impact did these first three years have on you both?
We believe is the most passionate song on the album, it's very intense for us and very intimate. It's one of those songs you write for yourself, exactly as if you were writing on a diary, to communicate something you can't explain verbally.
What was the making of this video like, and whose idea was it for the psyched out displays of ink and dye in being cast in the clear water?
We feel deeply connected to this song and we decided to shoot the video in a room of our house in Sardinia, the place which was representing the feeling of being immersed and trapped in our own world somehow and not necessarily in a bad way. During the recordings we experienced multiple contrasted feelings, emotions and thoughts who are represented in the video with layers of colors surrounding us. Luna from Doitforthemonster, the director, perfectly captured those vibes with a genuine simplicity.
The way you balance this classical sense of songwriting on "First 3 Years", mixing it with the the distortion, electronics and percussion? It almost has a life all of it's own!
It all blended together as we were composing it. As I said before the origin of this song comes from an improvisation during a time in which we were experiencing a waterfall of mixed feelings and emotions. The decision of moving back to Sardinia after 13 years in London had a very strong impact on our lives at that time, it's been hard, distorted and very inspiring at the same time.
What is the key to crafting music that haunts and stays within the listener's psyche for long after the song has finished playing?
Catch the emotions. Create them. Sharing them.
Notes from your tour with Fanfarlo?
We are now on the tour bus traveling from Austria to Italy with Fanfarlo. They are great musicians and fantastic people to spend time with. We are having a lot of fun together and jamming lots during soundcheck! Every show we play a song together with Cathy and Valentina on bass and drums. It's such an amazing experience! We absolutely love being on the road, meeting a lot of new people and being in a new town everyday around Europe to share our music. It's precious for us and so inspiring.. in fact we have plenty of new ideas and plans for the future. Although next step is our tour in the US which will start on March 23 and we literally can't wait to be there!
Dot to Dot is available now from Saint Marie Records.
Catch Lilies on Mars via the following dates with Fanfarlo:
March
06 – Rote Fabrik – Zurich – Switzerland
07 – Das Bett – Frankfurt – Germany
08 – AB Club – Brusses – Belgium
24 – House of Blues – San Diego, CA
25 – Troubador – Los Angeles, CA
26 – San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
28 – Dante's – Portland, OR
29 – Venue – Vancouver, BC
30 – Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA
April
01 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City
02 – Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO
05 – Duck Room at Blueberry – St. Louis, MO
07 – Triple Rock Social Club – Minneapolis, MN
08 – High Noon Saloon – Madison, WI
10 – Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL
11 – OHSkully's Music Diner, Columbus
12 – Mr. Small's Theatre – Millvale, PA
14 – Shelter – Detroit, MI
16 – Lee's Palace – Toronto, ON
17 – La Sala Rossa – Montreal, QB
19 – The Sinclair – Cambridge, MA
22 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
25 – Underground Arts – Philadelphia, PA
26 – Street Music Hall – Washington, DC
