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VIDEO: Moray indie rockers New Mode release new single Victim to the Culture, inspired by band members' musical adventure in America


By Craig Christie

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LIVING the American dream was the inspiration behind Moray rockers New Mode's latest single, which is out today.

New Mode, new single
New Mode, new single

Victim to the Culture is available (May 22) on all major music streaming platforms including itunes and Spotify (see video above).

The band was formed four years ago with their original line-up including current singer Ross Campbell, from Burghead, and Elgin-based lead guitarist Aaron Christie. Drummer Craig Howard (Elgin) and bassist Elwyn Hughes (Lossiemouth) were recruited in 2019.

Last year Campbell and Christie made a musical pilgrimage to USA, starting with the bright lights of New York before heading to Nashville, the home of country music, Memphis, where Elvis Presley's career was launched, and New Orleans in the deep south.

"It was November that I started writing the song," said Campbell. "Myself and Aaron were on holiday in America and came back with this buzz from being there, and experiencing that different culture.

"When you go to places like that it’s such a breath of fresh air, a new burst and it totally overwhelms you. You can’t take it all in.

"In all four places the music scene was just unbelievable.

New Mode are: lead singer Ross Campbell (back), Craig Howard (drums), Aaron Christie (lead guitar) and Elwyn Hughes (bass).
New Mode are: lead singer Ross Campbell (back), Craig Howard (drums), Aaron Christie (lead guitar) and Elwyn Hughes (bass).

"Nashville in particular was just immense, just the buzz of the place with music. It wasn’t just country, there was blues, jazz, all sorts of music. Every bar you went past you just heard live bands and live music, that's what they live for and it was right up our street.

"We wrote a couple of songs when we came home. It just kind of hit us when we got home, what we are used to here compared to what we had just experienced in America.

"It’s not a bad thing but the reality of being home kind of killed the buzz and the song took inspiration from that, just being back to reality and not living in dreamland any more.

"We were back to square one, back to normal until one day when we can get the opportunity to do it all again."

Like previous recordings including 'The Ryder' and 'Rolling Stone' , the band made the journey to Magic Box Studios in Dundee to record two new songs including their current release.

"It seemed a simple song when we rehearsed but once we got in the studio it was a mission to get over the line.

"It wasn’t an easy song to record, I think at one point every one of us struggled in some kind of way trying to push it over the line when we were playing it, but we got there.

"We were delighted, it was one of those songs that as soon as we heard even the first mix in the studio we were really happy with it.

"We started playing it in February live and we’ve played it a couple of times and there’s footage of when we started playing it and compared to what it sounds like now, it’s just night and day."

The band hit a high point in March when the were the support act at a major Elgin Town Hall gig headlined by Stone Roses and Oasis tribute acts, which drew a crowd of close on a thousand.

Days later, the national lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic kicked in, and New Mode have been unable to rehearse or try out new music since.

"We got the video (for Victim to the Culture) shot the weekend before it was all announced," Campbell added.

"We shot it in New Elgin hall, it was just kind of a live setting, more so a jam rehearsal. We had that idea to keep it simple with just the four of us playing. The visuals he’s done with it are immense.

"We’ve got another single coming after this, but there's no video shot for that yet.

"We looked into a few things, maybe even one with us as cartoon characters. There’s so many ideas that can float from it with the storyline we had for the song."

New Mode hope to release their next single during the summer, and return to performing live once it is safe to stage gigs again due to Covid-19.



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