Larusso have just released their instantly catchy and single-worthy track Fever. A mix of alternative/punk-pop, this track hits the ground running with its high energy sound and brilliant composition. We caught up with them to find out more about the song.
You have just released your new single Fever, can you tell us a bit about the song and why it was chosen as your current single?
Nick: We didn’t necessarily choose this song as the single. It more or less became the single off of it being an immediate fan favorite. We didn’t really have expectations other than it was definitely a new direction for us. While on tour in Wyoming, Fever was played in the set, but then requested again as the encore. For me, that’s when it became the single.
Aaron: We like to write constantly and mix up our live shows by adding in new tracks as they become ready. We felt we were on to something pretty immediately based off how different this track was than any of our others. After we played it at the first show, we knew without a doubt that this song was going to be special. As a thank you to our fans and as a promotional tool for potential new ones, we went straight to the studio to track it and began story boarding the music video.
So far, how would you describe the publics response to this very catchy track?
Aaron: We’ve been overwhelmed by the response! We’ve had popular tracks before that have been very successful for us, but nothing even close to what we’re working with now. We’re blessed with the best family, friends, and fans in the world that have supported this song and this video in a way that we’ve never seen before and we could not be more thankful!
Justin: Yeah I would definitely agree with Aaron, the response has been incredible and we couldn’t be more grateful. As far as press is concerned, we’re exactly where we wanted to be with this. To be honest, I loved Life in Static but we got a lot of reaction in the vein of “this has been done before” or “would have been great in 2007”. We got overwhelmingly positive criticism, but we definitely wanted to focus on forging a more unique sound and niche and I think the reaction so far is a testament to that evolution.
There is a video for Fever as well. How was that process for the band?
Nick: This was actually our first music video experience. Luckily we worked with extremely talented filmmakers. Chris Sasich and Pat Thompson made the process for us as a band remarkably easy and frustration free. We couldn’t be happier about the final product.
Aaron: We are very fortunate to be friends with some very talented and experienced film makers and they made it very easy for us. They had a specific vision and knew how to get exactly what they were looking for. For us, as musicians, it was fascinating. I was in a different world dealing with a different kind of medium and the experience was amazing. They would just walk us through several takes of the shots they wanted. My favorite part was watching the other actors do their thing. The makeup for the zombies was also incredible to watch.
What is the story behind the video?
Aaron: The story was written to be very relatable. I think everyone has gone through something like this. There is a guy falling asleep and starts dreaming about the “girl of his dreams”. The video goes through his dream sequences and through his nightmares, all while trying to reach her, but he just can’t ever quite get close enough.
Justin: For me, it really touches on that fun and exciting, yet totally draining and sometimes frustrating element to romance. It’s surface level a pretty simple concept but when I wrote the lyrics I really wanted to hit the raw emotion involved with it all, not just write a song about chasing a girl, if you catch my drift. I think the video really emulates that very well.
On the surface, Fever comes off as a simple track, but it isn’t long before it shows just how complicated the musical layout actually is. Was this a difficult song to create for the band at all?
Aaron: The main riff came together pretty easily from an idea that I had been working through in my head for a long time. Once I brought it to the guys and we started putting the pieces together, we surprised even ourselves with not only how technical it was starting to become, but also how quickly it was coming together. Overall, it was a very seamless process and we could not be more proud of how it turned out.
Justin: Yeah it’s definitely one of those songs that’s simple until you sit down and try to play it through. I think a lot of that is just the style we’re working in. Those small musical elements that give your song that “x factor”, and pushing your limits as a musician to incorporate those things. Fever is unlike anything I’ve done drum wise for Larusso and while it was definitely one I had to work with for awhile to perfect and write my parts well, I was also shocked at how easily everything came together. The slow down part in the bridge was probably the most difficult to be honest, you need to get everything right when you’re dealing with that kind of musical space in a song.
Can we expect more and more tracks like Fever to be released in the future, or can we expect the band to continue to head in different musical directions?
Aaron: We don’t like to write within the confines of a pre-conceived “norm”. We write how we feel and however the end product ends up is how that song needed to be written at the time. That being said, we’re definitely pushing our personal boundaries as far as writing and aiming to get out of our comfort zone to write progressively better than we have in the past. Fever is just the beginning!
Nick: Fever is definitely the start of a new direction for us musically. We will always stick to our roots but there are many firsts for us in Fever that are carrying over to new songs that we are writing.
In regards to the video, do you have any interesting or funny stories to share while filming it?
Aaron: I don’t think anything too funny or ridiculous happened other than just the normal dumb stuff we like to do, but the most interesting thing for me was watching Shawn Gordon do the makeup for our zombies. The kitchen was a disaster and I could not believe how thorough and professional he was. No detail was too small to not be addressed. It took hours and despite them not being visible for very long in the video, the product definitely speaks for itself.
