There’s hardly anything better than when a few talented musicians come together for a live session – and so we’re quite excited about today’s video premiere, a live video rendition of the debut single “Cold As Usual” by deathbypeanuts in collaboration with R&B artist MERON.
“”Cold As Usual” captures the honesty of a situation, rather than dressing it up with unnecessary sentiment or clichés. It’s about those moments when relationships get frosty, and I wanted it to resonate with anyone who’s ever felt that same emotional distance,” explains MERON about the song.
The concept of the live video, produced by Cycles Studio, was to translate the smooth and effortless sound of deathbypeanuts into a visual world, which makes the viewer focus on the fantastic smooth sound and the artists wonderfully jamming together without much distraction. The focus is simply on the music itself. And that’s more than enough to immediately draw one into its rhythmic groove.
It’s great to see musicians harmonize so well together; for the video, drummer Jay Cobain (Krept&Konan, Lady Leshurr, LionBabe & more), guitarist Roman Klobe-Barangă (Moses Yofee Trio, Peter Fox), vocalist MERON (Moods, A Song For You, Noah Slee), Alyssa Grace (A Song For You) on keys, and deathbypeanuts on bass have come together to deliver us the perfect song for the start of the week and perhaps for those moments when we want to have an honest inner monologue about emotional distance.
In an intimate chat with deathbypeanuts, he shared insights on the transformative power of jazz, his pursuit of artistic freedom, and encapsulating the spirit behind the soulful collaboration in “Cold As Usual.”
Images by Hendrik
You are a classical trained pianist. As a teenager you swiveled to contemporary jazz piano and bass guitar. How did this transition come about, and what fascinated you the most about jazz music and the bass?
The change from classical piano to jazz piano and then to bass guitar, was really because of a fascination about legendary bass player and artist, Richard Bona. His play, feel, and musicality for me was outstanding.
You started your career as a touring musician at just 17 years old. What qualities as a musician, but also what personal strengths, have you learned through touring?
There are a few things you have to learn, but really for me, touring is about spending time with people that you appreciate on a musical and personal level, learning how to respect your own space, how to integrate with your social surrounding, and how to keep your musical level consistent and have fun whilst playing.
What was completely different in reality about tour life compared to what you expected?
Touring can be very lonely and isolated, you lose track with friends and family, and on most tours, there’s really not a lot of parties.
In your songwriting/producing process, what does it look like? For example, do you prefer to start in the early mornings, or does inspiration come more in the evenings, and what atmosphere do you need to be creative?
There is no specific answer for me here, except that I want to feel comfortable and relaxed, everything else can be any place or time.
“Touring is about spending time with people that you appreciate on a musical and personal level.”
Why do you want to remain anonymous?
There are a lot of things about the music industry that make it difficult to move around, people like to put you into one field and then you´re supposed to stay there for the rest of time. For me, I want to have the freedom to make whatever I want without being recognised for my musical history or presence in other fields. This project is really about the music, this way, it stays like this.
The song “Cold as Usual” is about the emotional distance in a relationship. A situation that one sometimes has to accept, but sometimes can still change in my opinion. What are your personal experiences with dealing with such a situation?
Love is a mysterious thing, sometimes time, space, and feelings do not align the same way, sometimes they do. I know it can hurt like crazy when you are ready to go all in, and someone else is not there yet or may never be.
How did you and MERON come together as collaborators for this live session? Was there a specific vision for who should be involved, or did it gradually come together with who was included?
We worked together before and when this project came alive, it was my wish to work with meron on this. I deeply respect his musical talent as well as him as a person. The outstanding musicians that are involved are all good friends and people I admire for their taste and musicality, so it was a dream come true to work on this live session with them as well as the amazing team from cycle studios, who made this visual unbelievably well looking.
“For me, I want to have the freedom to make whatever I want without being recognised for my musical history or presence in other fields.”
What were the biggest challenges in this process?
Letting go of the mix of the song and finally having to send it off to mastering.
What is the most important aspect of a good collaboration?
I guess a common vision. Both have to feel the same about the outcome.
Do you and Meron plan to do more together in the future?
Bet.
Have you found your dream job with music, or could you imagine doing something else?
I am grateful every day to call this my job.
When you’re not making music, how do you prefer to spend your free time and with whom?
Eating good food without peanuts.
What do you wish for in 2024?
No deaths by peanuts, but more deathbypeanuts.
Thanks so much for your time!
