7HIRDWAV3 ON THEIR NEW PROJECT
Neka & Kahlo make spaced out, Hip-Hop/R&B/Soul and if you haven't heard of 7hirdwav3, then it's time that you do. They recently released a new project, Progressive Trap, and we got the full backstory on the new track. Catch them next at Soul'd Out Music Fest with Black Milk and Lyrics Born on April 16 at Alhambra.
EYES + EDGE: First, tell us about the name 'Progress Trap'. How did this name turn into a project?Neka: We produced and recorded the record before we settled on a name for it. Actually, the original file was called “Final Song” because it was the last one off the EP that we did. I was trying to follow up on the ethereal trap vibe we cultivated with the Indigo Kids release. So I played some synth patterns and reversed it like you might do a sample, then built the song from there.
Kahlo: I came up with the name “Progress Trap” after watching a documentary in class called Surviving Progress. Its about how science and technology is going to kill us all one day, but how it could also save us too. This idea was called the “progress trap” by one of the films commentators. It made me think of how love operates in a similar way. The things that build empires are often the same things responsible for their demise. And history repeats the progress trap over and over, which is what I meant when I said, “the same ‘cain they put in their nose is the same blade made to kill your bro” a reference to the story of Cain and Able.
E+E: How has the project evolved throughout the time you have been working on it?Kahlo: After the success of the May 2014 EP release and all the positive looks we got from fans and journalists locally, it really emboldened us to take the next step - make a video. So I sent Sam Lingle what I felt were our two best songs; Alchemistress and Progress Trap. He went with the latter and said it brought to mind one of those 90’s Whitney or Toni ballads and wanted to play with that idea visually. Together we came up with a concept to use that languid visual style with the white piano and soft lighting, but blend it with some pace plus the grittier, tribal elements since the music kinda goes that route as the song progresses.
E+E: Tell us more about the music video. Where was it filmed? Any wild/crazy things happen while filming?Neka: We filmed it over two days at two different locations. The first was at a coffee shop in Northeast, and the second was at a restaurant in St Johns. We originally decided to film it all in black & white but after Annie Angell came in and we saw our makeup and the what we'd be wearing we knew we had to put some of it in color. We went with this tribal punk feel and it worked out perfectly because Annie loves leather and fur! At the second location Sam wanted to make use of as much of the western style decor as possible to blend all these things together. The only crazy things I can think of that kept happening at both locations was no matter all the signs that were up telling people the spots were closed you still had people wandering in off the street asking for drinks in the middle of the shoot!
Kahlo: Sam was always working to get the right lighting and the right shots. I think the last take we got, which ended up making the final edit in a few places, had him sitting down on the sidewalk just outside the front door of the restaurant. So that might have been what confused a few of those onlookers! Nothing too wild happened, though it felt wild since it was our first time doing something like this. Playing around with all the wardrobe combinations was a lot of fun. Some of Annies outfits had us feeling like bad-ass superhero priestesses. Also finding odd things in the background of the edits that you don’t recall seeing while shooting. Im thinking of that 1970’s vintage kitty clock by the bar.Keep up with everything Neka & Kahlo are doing on Twitter, Facebook & Soundcloud!