We’re beyond excited to return to @therockboat next year! This voyage, we’re sailing from Miami to Key West and Cozumel, Mexico. We had an absolute blast last time (we’re still talking about it every chance we get) so don’t miss your opportunity to be part of it in 2027. Find the presale at the link in bio.
Miss you love you see you there.
everything went exactly according to plan… hehe srsly tho what an epic homecoming >> thank you @jonasbrothers for your invitation >> this meant a lot to us <+>
stay in touch w new music peep the link in my bio
< swipe for more new 🎶 >
Blue Dress - at long last, the original indie power ballad from < i want! i want! >
Me & All My Friends - our parents were right, and we’re growing up faster than we ever thought we might…
Anna Sun (St. Lucia Remix) - finally a collaboration with the soul-fam band we’ve loved and cheered on for a long time, @stlucia
Next In Line (Lucky West Remix) - new 100mph highway vibes brought to you by our brother from another mother @lucky_west
Iscariot (with Bear Hands) - yeah you read that right. a TWO-BAND DUET by by our faves @bearhandsband and yours truly. you had it coming.
< the liftaway > is yours forever on 11/17
< swipe for new 🎶 >
The Liftaway - the title track and a new recording of the song with which we used to open every show…
Mono No Aware - an ode to endings and beginnings… “Mono No Aware” is a Japanese expression for the bittersweet truth that all things must change.
Smoke Signals - a midwestern lullaby, started 10 years ago in Nicholas’ basement and Eli’s attic.
i want! i want! - before the labels, the agents, the hype… the original recording of the title track of our indie record.
stay tuned…. < the liftaway > out 11/17
< HEIGHTS > pt. iii
on the Dream Plane Tour — fall 2021 — each night felt like a total victory.
post-pandemic touring felt totally different. logistics were next to impossible, margins were super thin. drivers straight up disappeared on us. Covid chased us at every turn. every night we made it to stage was a win, and it had that energy. we ran til the devil caught us.
we knew we might not make it all the way to the end, but we fought the good fight anyway. deeply gutted we couldn’t make it to every city, yet thankfully reminded how lucky we are, especially in uncertain times, to share this ineffable precious unifying thing in our lives called music.
< HEIGHTS > pt. ii: as i write this post i’m filled with gratitude for the art that we have gotten to make as a band. < HEIGHTS > is my favorite record we’ve ever made, with my favorite music videos. (besides you, Anna Sun, you’ll always be the Queen)
“Can You Handle My Love??” — a strange prance through our collective subconscious. a dreamlike non-sequitur sequence for a song that confesses my hopelessly flawed humanity. i love the moments of pure personality that come thru in the big white performance space, like the very last shot when we all scatter in different directions, totally unplanned. the original cut of the video did not even have this performance setup; we added it last minute and it became the soul of the thing.
“Fire In Your House” — another confessional tune which calls out that master saboteur who i imagine lives in all of us. our director Nina Kramer came to us with an inspired concept, beautiful and simple, with depth for us to make it our own. it would include a tribute to the great South African artist and activist Johnny Clegg, my friend and hero who wrote the song with me and his son, Jesse, and who died tragically in 2019. in addition to the montage of Johnny himself, the visual style of the scenes in the “house”, which mixes color with black&white, is a reference to the 1988 music video for his song “I Call Your Name”. on set, for awhile i was distraught and confused about how to play my character in those scenes, until i realized “…OH. i AM the Devil.” muahaha
i particularly love watching Sean and Eli bust up the set with baseball bats. and i loved having such a huge space to express myself through dance.
this video features three additional members: Lachlan West who tours with us, Paul Meany formerly of Mutemath who produced the song, and Jesse Clegg.
i'll say it: probably my favorite piece of art we’ve ever made.
-@nicholaspetricholas
(cont’d in comments)
< HEIGHTS > pt. i
in a way, it felt like we’d been preparing to make < HEIGHTS > for many years. by February 2020, we were stacked: a bank of songs that had patiently waited since as far back as 2011 and a batch of new music inspired by new experiences, colored by nearly a decade of adventures together; one producer, Mike Crossey, with whom we’d developed a powerful creative relationship, and a handful of other brilliant producers and artists we’d met along the way; even a collaboration with South African activist and music legend Johnny Clegg had been waiting in the wings. but of course, no one was prepared for the strange new chapter that was about to begin in March. we were in LA working in the studio with producer Paul Meany, about halfway through recording the album, as our phones began to blow up with news. a few days later everyone was sent home. as the first weeks of lockdown went by and we realized, along with everyone else, that we really had no clue how long it would last… we decided to keep making the album anyway. it was a challenging year for many different reasons, and strange not to share these moments with each other in person; but by Christmas we were celebrating — with our lockdown beards in our bare feet and pajamas, thousands of miles apart in our respective houses — the completion of one long artistic journey and the start of the next. that is, we had finally put < HEIGHTS > on tape; next, we would create how to bring it to life for our audience… 🍳
-CYHML?? + nonsense
-What You Can’t Look Up drums
-WYCLU lyrics (sessions spanned before and after lockdown)
-Giants drums + keys (day 1 of home sessions)
-Pop of 2 guitar + Eli going ham
-our engineer Stephen keeping it serious
-Heights bass feat. Llamacorn
-Last take
-pic w @johnnyclegg when we wrote FIYH
< what if nothing > pt. iii
After the huge push of Shut Up and Dance, and after all the < TALKING IS HARD > touring was done, the monumental task of recording a follow-up settled upon us.
The record did not come easily. Both internal and external pressures and mounting tensions led to conflict between us. Momentum was hard to come by as we switched studios, switched producers, stopped to write more, took breaks away from each other, halted to face tragedy.
Finally, after all we’d been through both together and as individuals, releasing and touring < what if nothing > felt like a victory lap. We were in the biggest rooms we’d ever played - sometimes playing multiple nights to sold out crowds - touring with the biggest, most dialed in production of our careers. We were carrying the past with us, but pushing the boundaries of what WALK THE MOON could be. Yes, open the show with Circle of Life, but have it break down and crumble half way through. Let us start somewhere new.
If the < TALKING IS HARD > tour took us to new places across the globe, the < what if nothing > tours let us return with a new strut in our step. We had a record we were enormously proud of, and a number one single with One Foot. We had a fresh confidence in our ability to rise above, to prevail, to come back. Some of the happiest, silliest, and most victorious moments were during this time. I’ll say it: maybe my favorite era. Come at me. -@brosemaiman
🎥 + 📸: @dkessler
addt’l 📸: @annaleemedia
whoever you are,
if you make art,
your art is important.
even if you don’t,
you’re probably an artist in some other way.
whatever you do that is your craft,
your focus,
your service,
your offering,
is beautiful
and needed.
you make an important impact on the world
by expressing yourself
and sharing your energy.
never ever stop.
your art is love.
< what if nothing > album + single art by the one and only @the_invisible_realm
< what if nothing > pt. i
our third record came from an exploration of extremes: the yin-yang, the light and the dark, life and death, the full spectrum. listening back, it feels like a surreal representation of what i was experiencing in my personal life.
Summer 2016 was a mysterious portal for me. some difficult lows would lead to profound moments of growth, freedom, and inspiration for the album. i had cancelled our summer tour because i couldn’t bare going out on the road again while my dad was so sick. my girlfriend and i, after almost five years, had decided to break up. and i had moved back home to Cincinnati to be close to family. maybe it was the spaciousness of being back in Ohio, or the confronting proximity of my father’s illness; whatever the reason, i received a strong call to venture deeper with myself. i got my own music studio space downtown. i studied Kung Fu, Tarot, and Kundalini Yoga. i sat in ceremony with indigenous medicine. i spent a week in the desert at a strange gathering called Burning Man. and i spent a lot of time with my mom visiting my dad at his care facility.
by the time i reunited with the band that fall & winter to put together the next record, i felt like i was becoming a different person. the sorrow of losing my dad and the grace i was experiencing in my spiritual practices and adventures were transforming me into a more whole human being. i felt somehow connected to more of the world, to everyone who had ever experienced profound loss. my lyrics, even my voice began to feel different. songs like “Surrender”, “Kamikaze”, and “Sound Of Awakening” were coming through that i never would have been able to write or sing before. it didn’t matter what the song was about — i found i could access my pain or joy and bring it into the music, into the light; and each time, it felt like a gift from my dad. (cont’d in comments)
