The Band Explains: Tandem Felix - 'Were You There (When They Crucified the Birthday Boy)?'

Dublin-based five-piece Tandem Felix speak to us about their visuals for 'Were You There (When They Crucified the Birthday Boy)? seeing lead singer David Tapley Skype call himself.

'Were You There (When They Crucified the Birthday Boy)?' is the first song the band have released in two years. It's a charming and quirky indie rock song led by wistful vocals and pairing psych nuances with warm and relaxed indie textures. 

Tandem Felix Explains
Where was the video for ‘Were You There (When They Crucified the Birthday Boy)’ filmed?
I made it in my bedroom in Rialto, Dublin, with a webcam atop my beautiful IKEA desk that took me three gruelling hours to assemble.

How does the video compliment the song?
With ‘Birthday Boy’, and most of the other songs from our upcoming record, the lyrics are central to the song. I wanted to make something with emphasis on the words and little detail on visual cues. When you watch this video and if it’s your first time hearing the song, I guess you will focus on that.

Any behind the scenes stories?
It took me about 45 minutes to make. The hardest part for me was to add in all of the Skype buttons and such. I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to make the timer go to 3:16, but no one has seemed to notice that yet. For the first “shot” I drank coffee from a Beatles mug. I wanted to choose a different mug for the second, larger “shot”. However, because I also wanted to flip the image horizontally, none of my novelty mugs would have worked. I have a brilliant Dennis Bergkamp mug that should have gone in there. After the video was released, I was hoping there would be some sort of legal action taken by Skype for using their trademarked logos, but no word yet. I’ll see you in court!

Could you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
I am not a fan of video chat. 10 or 15 years ago, when video-calling seemed like the most futuristic thing ever, I guess everyone thought it was going to replace audio-calling entirely. But for me, it’s just a nuisance. You spend half the time making sure you are in frame and don’t have a double-chin. It definitely takes away from the conversation that’s taking place. I don’t really see the advantage of it.

 What do you hope people take away from watching the vid?
I hope that whenever anyone wants me to do a video-call, I can just send them the YouTube URL. I’ve cut my hair since then, but it should be close enough.

Interview Feature by Karla Harris