The Hourglass Cats released their video for their single "Sense," on Monday. The video is their first from their May 2013 EP, 432. The video is a plotless ode to the summertime day trips that Phoenicians take to get out of the sweltering Phoenix heat.
"I mean, obviously, it's an Arizona thing," says lead singer Cori Rios. "If you're going to the beach, that's fake--we aren't from California, we're not going to the beach. We're going to watering holes and little oases, our version of going to the water--lakes, rivers, Sedona, whatever it is. As a Phoenix kid I've known about Fossil Creek and day-tripping to get out of the heat. You go to the water and a lot of our songs are about running to the water and getting away and escaping."
The video was directed by medical student and avid GoPro user Alex Morales, who also filmed The Hourglass Cats' videos for "Keep Stepping" and their journey through Apache Lake Music Festival, set to the music of their peers Sara Robinson and The Midnight Special, Future Loves Past and Japhy's Descent.
"'Keep Stepping' was just a random gig at ASU with a waterslide at it. It wasn't that cool of an event but Alex made it look cool," said Rios. Rios and Morales are both lifelong Phoenicians who met during their middle school years. "He's trying to become a doctor right now, so he does it for fun. He does a bunch of climbing videos and snowboarding videos too, he's just one of those GoPro guys," says Rios.
THC decided to wait to release the video because, according to Rios, "Right now the summertime looks so appealing. Like, when I watched that I really missed it. I missed being warm and it made me appreciate that even more, like Arizona can be pretty cool."
The simple, yet exciting, video that Morales and THC put together in many ways is also a reflection of The Hourglass Cats' upbeat music and live shows. It's not too complicated, it sounds terrific, it's easy to look at, and it's a whole lot of fun. "That song, we just talked about it being in water, something with water. Then we came up with this idea of daydreaming,we were going to make a whole concept video. But we realized it would be more fun if we just did a day trip up to Fossil Creek and had a bunch of fun, did a bunch of jumps and made a video out of it."
Besides being the single of of their EP, "Sense" is also the first song that Rios ever wrote, at the ripe old age of 16. Now Rios gets to not only watch the video of the first song he ever wrote, but he also gets to hear it from time to time on the radio on KWSS 93.9.
"It's a sweet lullaby kind of song with a pop-rock chorus. I wrote it as a love song to a girl but coded as weed. I wanted it to be a fake love song where girls think it's a love song but its actually about weed." said Rios.
THC is planning to have their next single "Too Damn Rude," released, and a new music video by early 2014, as well as a completed full length album before 2015. But for now you can catch them December 14 at Last Exit Live, playing "A very Reggae Christmas" with Silver Linings, Pride Through Strife, and Oops and Mike Easy.
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There is one thing, however, THC wants to make clear. "We are not a white boy reggae band," Rios tells me. "I'm fucking Mexican and we have girls."
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