Q: When I first listened to your latest single, ‘Looking For Attention’,
it was stuck in my head for the rest of the day! What was the
inspiration behind ‘Looking For Attention’?
DJAKARTA: Thanks haha! it has indeed a catchy melody that can be stuck in your head & repeat itself in your sleep (a real nightmare) The main inspiration was first an “ode”, “anthem” to singlehood & freedom, and then with the video we added another meaning with the fear of commitment & the frenetic race of consumption that dating apps can be if used in a peculiar way (in this case meaningless one night stands).
Q: ‘Looking For Attention’ features Hawaiian singer Keilimei. What’s the
story behind how you came together with Keilimei for this collaboration?
DJAKARTA: Funny true story! At that time we were single (Raphael & Tristan) and we both “matched” Keilimei on a Dating App! We never went on a date with her but we really liked her voice we heard on her instagram. We had a song (that we wrote & composed), we thought it would be great for a duet with a female singer, so she came to the studio and recorded amazing vocals in an afternoon!
Q: Was there a pivotal moment in your life when you guys decided you
wanted to be musicians together?
DJAKARTA: We started to play music together when we were teenagers and never stopped ever since 🙂
Q: The music video for ‘Looking for Attention’ is a story in itself. Can
you tell us how you came up with that idea?
DJAKARTA: It was a concept that grew in my head for 1 year, and then 1 day before Kicksama started to work on the animation, we sent him the final story! In one afternoon he drew & animated in black & white all these crazy ideas we had just like we imagined it! Then Rusalka added all the beautiful colors 🙂 The main theme was to playfully blend the worlds of dating apps and 80’s-90’s arcade game culture. There are many references in the video :”Tinder” for the “Swiper game”, French dating App “Adopte un mec” for the supermarket cart, “Mario Kart” for the race & throwing items, “Sonic & Mario” for collecting coins, “OutRun” racing game with the “Checkpoints” & the passing landscapes , (Uncle Scrooge) for the main characters swimming in a pool of coins.
Q: You have a new EP, ‘Overseas’, coming out in October this year. What
do we have in store with your new EP?
DJAKARTA: We’ve already released 3 songs « Any Open Door », « Leave it For Tomorrow » & « Looking for Attention » which will appear on this 5 tracks Ep called «Overseas », there are 2 new songs you will discover « I Think of You » & « Alive ».
Q: What would you like to say to your fans out there?
DJAKARTA: Check out our new single & video “Looking for Attention”, we had a lot of fun writing the story and Kicksama / Rusalka did a marvelous job with the animation & art direction !
Interviewed by Kaitlyn Westerman
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