Tremor Low
Oakland, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
Press
f any of the images from "Give Blood," the new video from Oakland trio Tremor Low, seem familiar, then consider yourself a fan of evocative, violent cinema. Or maybe just someone with particularly troubling nightmares.
The Pulp Fiction- and Timecrimes-referencing cut, directed by David Dutton, sets the band's darkly romantic synth-wave to a slow-motion run for their lives.
"The song and video are about people exploring the woods, encountering something a little menacing, and being transformed by it," the band's Donald Bellenger tells us. "A pivotal moment happens early on when the group encounters bodies on the ground, and one character realizes that the bodies are actually their own."
It's a moment, he says, when the band give into their "prey drive."
"You've got to give blood, and everything you've ever loved," Bellenger sings.
"It's a message of how the group needs to make sacrifices in order to find their new identity," he says. "Identity is an idea that resonates throughout the song, and in our own way, we're asking the questions of 'Who are we really?' and 'What if we could change that?'"
The looping, time-manipulating style plays into the video's heady pontificating. "We felt that it was important that while the characters are giving into their baser, paranoid instincts, they're always being manipulated by versions of themselves," Bellenger says.
"Did the suited people come before the masked ones? Who becomes who? We leave that to the viewer to decide," he explains.
Another important question to consider: When was the last time you wanted to dance to psychology? And how much fun is it to watch indie-rock dudes get murdered in the woods?
Speaking of which, Bellenger says, "I tasted lots of fake blood and didn't like it. In one particular shot, we threw a bloody knife and then couldn't find it, so there's still a very incriminating knife covered in blood out there on this person's property." - Esquire
This one kind of had me from jump street. If you like Twin Shadow, you’ll love Tremor Low. They’re a four piece band coming straight at you from the mean streets of Oakland. I’m really digging the dark synths and the clear nod to the Depeche Modes of the world. Check it out in all its darkness. - The Most Definitely
Tremor Low is a four-piece band hailing from Oakland, California that creates insistent, brooding post-punk/new-wave music. The group has been together for 3 years, and began 2012 with the release of a new 5 song EP entitled “Kingmaker”. Each song is delivered in an urgent fashion, swooning through stories of loss and lust, vengeance and greed. “Kingmaker” is the ultimate expression of what Tremor Low is: a state of frenzy that demands to be heard. Tremor Low is currently working on their debut full length. You can see them July 18th at the New Parish with the Hundred Days, Fake Your Own Death, and The Blank Tapes and August 17th, headlining Bottom of the Hill, accompanied by Genevapop and Riot Earp. Check out their website and like them on Facebook. - Live 105, Aaron Axelsen
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
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Bio
Tremor Low comes from fucking Oakland, California.
They sound like synthesizers, drum machines, delay and distortion pedals in exactly that order.
They also sound like Robert Smith making music in the Noughties, but they’re trying to get away from that.
Tremor Low shot to mega-almost-stardom during the summer of 2013, at which point they were playing venues like Great American Music Hall, Bottom of the Hill, and Popscene (SF). During this time Tremor Low did a stint as the resident band at the Beautiful Buzzz SXSW showcase and their 2-year old video was utterly destroying the competition for 2nd or 3rd place in various film festivals. At home, they were sharing the stage with The Trims, Parallels, and Moving Units. In the same week that they were included in the first round of CMJ bands, the c-list-celebrity-bullet-train ran off the rails as they decided to lose a member, cancel all shows and put the band on indefinite hiatus. Fabian and Don went on to experiment with writing and playing a dancier version of themselves under a different name, and after a long period decided that doing the new material under the name Tremor Low was a better decision.
After literally 20+ auditions (including a member from a very well known metal band), the band discovered Ariel Utz Wirnsberger, a Chilean national living in the Bay Area with no practical band experience, but he was a fucking bad-ass synthesizer wizard. While Ariel’s english improved, and Don continued to practice his tortured Spanish on his cringing bandmates, they finessed their sound and show to be the very best version of Tremor Low that the world has ever seen.
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