Today, we are debuting the new video from The Acharis ‘False Positive’, watch it below. The Acharis is the creative outlet for life partners Shaun Wagner and Mila Puccini. A cycle of crushing gaze noise infused with entwined vocals that have the slacker sound of taking feelings of despondency and self contempt and expelling them into the ether, it could be a catharsis of eighteen months of spirit crushing lockdown.
Its lifted from their upcoming follow up album Blue Sky / Grey Heaven which finds them joining forces with the legendary producer John Fryer (Cocteau Twins , Depeche Mode, This Mortal Coil). The darker, more produced sound, along with their newly recruited full live band, deliver a spectrum of moods, ranging from fragile noise pop to fuzzed out shoegaze.
Shaun says:
“I came up with this riff when I was a teenager and it’s been bouncing around in my head ever since. The inspiration came from the huge sounding guitars on the first 2 Smashing Pumpkins albums. The original title was ‘Elephant’ as a nod to the Pumpkins track ‘Rhinoceros’. When It came time to write the lyrics, I was walking around just being fucking bummed and wondering what I could possibly have to say to the world that would matter. I feel like often there is pressure to reveal some great truth or intelligent insight in a 3 minute rock song, which is just kind of ridiculous. I remember Kurt Cobain talking about how ‘Pennyroyal Tea’ was about just being hopelessly depressed. So I took inspiration from that and just wrote about how I was feeling at the time. It has that kind of slacker 90’s vibe like yeah, everything is fucked, so what? It all comes full circle in the unintelligible screaming at the end of the song “There’s an elephant in the room. A rhinoceros. A hippopotamus. It’s true”
The cover for the single is a photo I took looking out our window in San Francisco in September 2020. The sky turned orange because of all the forest fires in CA. There is no filter or photoshop, that’s how it really looked.”
The music video is directed by Elyse Schrock, an Oakland musician and filmmaker known for her work with The World and Blues Lawyer. Recently she created the multimedia animated series “Flippin’ in the Dark”, a collaboration with other local artists, available on her Instagram page @creatureofdoom.
“In my work, I like to use multimedia to create worlds in order for the audience to better understand the subject matter or feeling from the artist. In The Acharis’ ‘False Positive’ music video, the blend of green screen, a doll house, and 8mm footage brings to life the feeling of being stuck between the inside and out, physically and psychologically.” – Elyse Schrock
I have been following Elyse’s work for a while and I loved the quality of the stop-motion and multi-media videos she has been creating. They have an irreverent sense of lightness and humor, as well as a dark subversive element that really appeals to me, and reminds me of the 90’s MTV shows like “Liquid Television”. The concept for this song was the feeling of being trapped, and Elyse came up with the metaphor of a house. You can walk down the hallways and open the different doors, but you can never go outside. We filmed the live performance at home and emailed files back and forth, and Adrien Saenz (@reality archive on Instagram) provided the 8mm footage.
“This album has been in the works since 2017. A very dark four years for us living in Oakland, CA dealing with death, depression, addiction, betrayal and tragedy but also love, inspiration, and hope. We wanted to make something timeless that truly represents who we are without following any trends or genres. We had the opportunity to work with John Fryer of This Mortal Coil which was a dream come true. Ever since I heard “Song to the Siren” in the film “Lost Highway” by David Lynch, I thought it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. I dreamed of somehow coming close to this world in which it was created, never thinking it would actually happen. The result is a darker and more polished sound than our first album “Lost in the Vortex”
-Shaun
TOUR DATES:
— France / UK tour November 2021—
France
Nov. 17 – Le Mans, FR – Snam Hell DIY – w/ La Peste, Sergueï Sputnik,
Nov. 18 – Rouen , FR – Lés 3 Piece – w/ Human + DJ Seb Petit
Nov. 19 – Paris, FR – Walrus – “unplugged” showcase
Nov. 20 – Paris, FR – L’Espace B – w/ La Peste, Teenage Bed
UK
Nov. 22 – Manchester, UK – The Tallyrand – w/ Surfing Pointers, Palette, Bedroom Vacation
Nov. 23 – Sheffield, UK – Dina Arts Center – w/ Surfing Pointers, Palette, Sweetheart
Nov. 24 – Liverpool, UK – Kazimier Gardens – w/ Surfing Pointers, Obfuscate, Pleasure Island
Nov. 25 – Norwich, UK – Voodoo Daddies – w/ Bag of Cans, Marla, Yellowhammers
Nov. 26 – Chelmsford, UK – Hot Box – w/ Surfing Pointers
Nov. 27 – London, UK – The Victoria Dalston – “Shoegaze All-Dayer” w/Rev Rev Rev, 93MillionMilesFromTheSun, Purple Heart Parade, Velveteen, Noissennes
Nov. 29 – Bristol, UK – The Lanes – w/ Surfing Pointers
Pre-Order Here: https://theacharis.bandcamp.com/