New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Auckland, New Zealand-based trio CAPITAL THEATRE have delivered a distinctive take on alternative rock with their debut full-length album A HERO'S JOURNEY released last Friday, June 24. Recorded with Grammy Award-winning legendary producer Mike Clink (Guns N' Roses, Steve Vai), its 10 tracks display the group's melodic and edgy guitar/keyboard-driven sound while lyrically drawing inspiration from Joseph Campbell's comparative mythological book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Guest string arrangements were added by composer
David Campbell (The Rolling Stones, Beck) to add a multi-dimensional feel as the album follows along the archetypal hero's journey throughout life.
Concurrent with the release of A HERO'S JOURNEY, the band have revealed a spellbinding music video for their radio single, "Fait Accompli," directed by Brian Cox (The Used, Bring Me The Horizon) which can be seen streaming below or via YouTube. "Fait Accompli" marks the first track on the album and represents the idea of the hero's entrance into one's own journey, aka life, without any choice but to advance. The video was filmed in Los Angeles earlier this month while the band was in town to record material for their next album, once again with Clink at recording helms. Read more about the song's deeply personal connection to the band and how the video came together in a Q&A with vocalist/guitarist/pianist Adam Stevenson below.
CAPITAL THEATRE have captivated audiences worldwide with their gripping music videos including the evocative clip for their previous single "Delicately Poised" which celebrates self-identity and was filmed in a historic underground adult entertainment club in Barcelona with a vibrant collective of artists, dancers and performers presenting their authentic selves. Released March 1, it has since garnered over 15 million views and over 945k streams. Watch/listen here: https://ffm.to/delicatelypoised.
Formed in 2019, CAPITAL THEATRE band members (and longtime friends) Stevenson, Paul Reid (drums, vocals) and Roy
Oliver (guitar, vocals), had just began to hone in their live routine with appearances at local Auckland clubs with A-list guest musicians including
Jane's Addiction bassist Chris Chaney and
Bon Jovi lead guitarist Phil X before the global pandemic hit and put a halt to live music. During their recent visit to the States, they were able to return to the stages for a series of radio showcase gigs including a stop at The Gathering Festival (Lovely The Band, The Unlikely Candidates, Lit) in Ohio. They will next be seen on a headlining tour in support of A HERO'S JOURNEY across New Zealand from July 15 through August 6.
Q&A with CAPITAL THEATRE:
- 'Fait Accompli' is a phrase meaning something that's happened and is irreversible therefore leaving no choice but to accept it. This is quite a powerful statement. What inspired you to write song and feature it as the first track on your debut album?
"The stars really aligned with this track. Because our album 'A Hero's Journey' is based off the hero's journey archetype popularized by Joseph Campbell, we needed a bold and defining song to open the journey, and we honed in on birth as the subject. But for our singer, Adam, the birth of his first daughter Esmè was an emergency event, six and a half weeks early. In many other similar cases either mother or child, or both, do not pull through.
So, with that very real experience as the nucleus to the song, the added notion of birth being a Fait Accompli was a very stimulating proposition. It is probably the most obvious and universally experienced Fait Accompli example, in our opinion. We wanted the song to sound like an ordeal which I think, with its stirring instrumental bridge and epic chorus, we achieve this in spades."
- Throughout the song's lyrics, there's several references to something being created:
'Climbing up a ladder to see the
Milky Way / I peel off the lid and stare into the space I've made' and 'Its growing inside / Got a beating heart / There's nowhere to hide / From the very start.' What is being created? What will -or has- the creation impacted?
"Life is being created, the life, the unborn baby, is experiencing a Fait Accompli, their destiny is set, beyond their control, as a parent we bear great responsibility for deciding to create life."
- You filmed the song's music video while you were in Los Angeles with director Brian Cox. Why did you choose to film it there? What is the concept behind the video and how does it correlate with the song's meaning?
"We love working with different creative people from around the world.
Julie Gomez from Kalapa Studios in Barcelona was amazing with her concept and directing of the 'Delicately Poised' video, which gave us trust to keep exploring new creative partnerships. Filming in LA with Brian gave us great access to an amazing location, and while the video is not overly narrative driven, it meets the energy of the song and creates a unified piece of work. Brian has a brilliant portfolio of great work and to be honest, while in the past we've been very hands on with how our videos are produced, this time we kind of took a back seat, but there are some really stunning creative techniques, choreography (not from us) and a bit of ritual thrown in for good measure."
- In previous videos, photo shoots and live shows, you've put on face makeup similar to that of clowns. For "Fait Accompli" you've left that off. What is the significance behind this? How does it tie into the overall theme of the album and/or band itself?
"Firstly, we must point out that our band name is 'Capital Theatre,' so you will always see elements of theatrical embellishment in our visuals. The clown is a character that was firstly developed for our music video for 'People' where we needed a character step change to show the band performance in a satirical way. I personally loved the character and used it for general entertainment and content creation during our NZ lockdowns. He's a good friend of mine. We really enjoyed using it for 'Delicately Poised' especially given the song and videos themes of identity being explored. 'Fait Accompli' is a return to three mates playing a solid rock tune, no clown required."
