New York, NY (Top40 Charts) "Letting You In" is the second single from Mid Ayr, a project created by Hugh Middleton while on tour playing in The Trouble With Templeton in 2014.
Touching on some very personal themes, the video for new single "Letting You In" takes the themes of the song and beautifully brings them to life. The band knew a standard clip wouldn't suffice and wanted something that would beautifully convey the themes of love, loss, and spiraling into insanity after losing someone you love. Rather than settle of something easy and predictable, the band enlisted the help of their long-time friend Luke Constable to answer an interesting question - what if we used puppets?
"Because the tune is quite up front and raw with its message of losing someone you love and the insanity that can follow. I thought it would only make sense to capture that very idea in the film clip. But I knew that it wouldn't really work using actual people since a lot of the scene ideas could considerably over step the mark with appropriateness if we did…. . I have to mention that Luke really strived for this clip to be as close as a representation to my actual life that every set and stage prop that he created, from scratch by the way, really does freakishly resemble my old house and the things I surrounded myself with at the time. Even my 1970s Ibanez acoustic is in there!"
- Lead singer Hugh Middleton
"Hugh came to me a white back and told me he had an idea for a film clip with a puppet that goes through a break up. I thought the clip would pack a punch if the sets truly felt lived-in, because the song was a reflection on shared spaces. This took about three months. It was tricky coming up with a way to operate the puppet… the most effective approach was one or two hidden wires operated underneath through a hole. Jen really brought life into the tender moments [and] Hugh did a lot of the ugly scenes. Having a different puppeteer for the two moods really affected the puppet's movement and choices. At the end we went back and filmed a scene of 'Puppet Hugh' rocking out on stage as a reflective musician in a black turtleneck. It was effective in that the direct link to the song instantly made it a music video and at the same time gave it a sense of dramaturgical resolution."
- Director Luke Constable
Hugh started writing demos for Mid Ayr whilst playing and touring the world with his previous band, The Trouble With Templeton. "I have always had the desire to start my own project so gradually whilst on the road with Templeton I started writing and then I would record the ideas in my bedroom studio. Zach was also playing drums in Brisbane's My Own Pet Radio and Denpasar and had the idea of asking Alex L'Estrange, who was also playing in both these outfits, to jump in for a rehearsal. We hit it off immediately…" Alex became more and more involved with the production of the Mid Ayr EP (out early 2016) in the months to come. As Mid Ayr began to take shape, the band began to play live more often - building a reputation for their intense and emotional live show, and scoring support slots alongside acts such as EAST, Avaberee, Aquila Young and upcoming shows with My Own Pet Radio.
"A dreamy, pop rock gem" - Indie Shuffle
"If you're a sucker for light, acoustic-led pop, you're going to instantly fall in love with this track" - Hilly Dilly
"Letting You In" is OUT NOW // Mid Ayr's debut EP will be coming out in early 2016.
