Indie pop band, Don’t Believe In Ghosts, are heavily promoting their new single, “Still Holding On.”
The emotional track has special meaning for Don’t Believe In Ghosts vocalist, Steven Nathan, who lost his brother to COVID-19 back in April and penned the track as a way to showcase his feelings since the tragedy.
The song speaks about the changes and challenges that life often brings and how you must find a way to keep going and moving forward.
“Still Holding On” follows their successful single, “Living Like This,” which was out earlier this year and landed on hundreds of radio stations world-wide despite the early stages of the pandemic.
Flirt recently got a chance to speak with Nathan about the track and how its video came together.
Q: "Still Holding On" is an important track for so many reasons. It came out of personal tragedy, but is a great inspiration for people all across the world right now. How did the track come together and what do you hope people take away from the song?
Steven Nathan: Thank you so much! Well, it really came from the overwhelming feelings and situations so many of us are going through right now.
Parts of this song we'd been playing with for a while, but it wasn't really till the spring that the purpose of these pieces really all came together into a song.
Q: Can you talk a bit about the process of putting together the video for "Still Holding On?”
SN: Well, this one was a challenge for sure. We knew we wanted to do something a little bigger this time. We've been getting more ambitious with our videos, but at the same time being in a COVID social distancing world, we knew we had some even bigger obstacles to work around.
We really narrowed this down to a small crew and incorporated everyone who's been a big part of our team behind the camera into the actual storytelling as characters.
The whole band also took on behind the scenes rolls. As we were filming one scene, whoever wasn't involved was building the set for the next scene.
Q: Were you surprised by just how well "Living Like This" did in spite of the pandemic issues?
SN: Yeah, for sure. It's a strange time to be asking people to listen to your song or watch your video where you put TV's on your head while so many people are losing jobs and loved ones, but it seems people enjoyed the distraction and perhaps the message of the song kind of took on a new meaning.
Q: What do you feel it is about your music that seems to connect on a deep level with your fans?
SN: I think people connect to the fact that we are doing this ourselves. We do this because it's who we are. Every bit of this is real and happening in real-time.
There is no marketing team behind our music; it's not a product. It's art and art connects on a deeper level.
Also, it's probably a bit of surprise as to what our next songs may sound like. We make what we are feeling in the moment and we don't make one genre of music or strive to fit into any time period.
We don't chase a sound; we make our own.
Q: After playing your first headlining shows last year, touring obviously came to a stand-still this year. Do you have any plans to get back out on the road and what can people expect when you do?
SN: Yeah, 2020 was going to be a big touring year for the band. We'll be back out there once its safe for our audience - and when we do, we are going to bring the best shows of our lives.
Q: What's next for the end of the year and heading into 2021?
SN: We will be releasing our next single, “Won't Say A Word” in November and our new full-length album will arrive in the first week of 2021. Then, we'll start releasing some brand-new music again in March.
It's getting busy!
Q: You've done well with TV placements in the past? What initially sent you down that path and do you have any coming up?
SN: We have, it's really exciting to come across your music in a TV show. We hear of things being picked up every now and then and certainly hope to land more!
Q: And what is your favorite thing about doing this?
SN: Really, the best part is interacting with people. Both in this band, around this band, and with those who support this band. We have some really amazing people around us right now.
Q: Anything you'd like to add?
SN: Hope we get to see and hang with you at a show at some point soon!