New Release – Johnny Self by Pranatricks
Pranatricks is an artist, multi-instrumentalist, and indie singer songwriter currently based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. His debut album ‘Cherished’ released in January of 2023 garnered several accolades. Having been active in the Canadian independent music scene since 2006, he continually shapes his outward expression through simple songwriting and instrumentation. He’s also one half of electro funk duo Fur Bearing Animals, whose song ‘Ivy Harvey Shoes’ was featured on Departures, a Canadian Travel TV Show.
Pranatricks will be releasing seven singles off his ten track sophomore album ‘Elements of’ in six week intervals with the full album releasing on 4th April 2024. His single ‘Johnny Self’ will be out 25th August.
What’s the song about?
“The song was written many years ago to reflect a strong period of self-exploration, and is meant to capture an unravelling of self-identity. The lyrics, through an autobiographical fictional narrative, describe facing failure and its importance in self-understanding. Marked stylistically by a crunched up electric guitar softened by the vocal delivery, the dreamy mood lulls the listener into a euphoric trance only to abruptly expand into a full-blown departure of experimental layered synth arpeggios and vocal shots meant to reflect the inhibition needed to discover our deepest truths.”
Drawing from artists such as Kurt Vile, Feist, and Chad VanGaalen, the Canadian, genre expanding, indie singer songwriter hopes to impart the importance of finding a pathway towards a subjective exploration of self.
Where was it recorded and mixed?
“I recorded and mixed the track in my home studio over a period of several months.”
Is the release accompanied with a music video?
“Yes the official video is on YouTube. You can find it here. I shot it in the woods behind my house on the afternoon of the Summer Solstice. It’s simple really, me walking in a field, contemplating the surrounding environment, reflecting internally. A time lapse occurs and then, giving way to inhibition, a subdued forest dance party emerges. It’s meant to capture the surrounding beauty and interject a sense of unbounded curiosity towards letting go of what other people think of you. “
Is there a story behind the cover artwork? Did you make it yourself?
“Yes, the cover art work is a photo I took outside of my girlfriend’s, now wife’s, apartment complex 17 years ago. It’s a silly statue that was intentionally left in a traffic roundabout as an art piece. There was a necklace around the statue and a mirrored crystal ball was placed in the statue’s lap. In the reflection you can see my image which would have been captured around the time that I initially wrote the song.”
