Australia’s Huntly  released their debut album Low Grade Buzz last month via Barely Dressed Records. They just licensed the record to House Arrest who will be re-releasing it in North America soon. Huntly have a reputation for being one of Australia’s most dynamic and exciting underground artists.

Beyond the music they are making, Huntly are dedicated to fostering inclusive and transformative spaces through music. Elly (singer) is a key-member of the influential and inspiring LISTEN collective which promotes the visibility and experiences of women, gender non-conforming, LGBTQIA+and POC within Australian music. Alongside the release of Huntly’s debut album, Elly is also completing a PhD in Music Therapy – exploring music as an anti-oppressive practice for young people to explore issues related to gender. 

Today, Ghettoblaster has the pleasure of premiering the group’s powerful new video for “Giving Circle,” directed by Dyllan Corbett This is what El had to say about it:

“Giving Circle is about the mess left in the aftermath of a break up. The moments you look around your friendship group and want to extricate yourself from the whole scene because everything has changed and it’s all too painful. It was important to me to try process this story through an accessible dance track, and involve people from our band’s community. This is what led me to the idea of a choir, who we brought into the recording studio, and then into this music video. The Huntly choir are not only beautiful singers, but some of our closest friends; our partners; and inspiring people from around Melbourne’s arts communities. Creating a collective space for Andy, Charlie and I to play this song in – to have that group of people sing those lines and move their bodies together with us – it was a sincere kind of subversion of the social displacement that I wrote the song about.”

Director Dyllan Corbett had this to say about it:

 “One of the harder parts of making any music video is that by the time you’ve finished shooting and spent long nights in the edit room, the once-favourite banger of a tune becomes something of a struggle to listen to; this is definitely not the case for ‘Giving Circle.’ With every re-take, it seemed like everyone only ever got MORE into the track. At one point the DOP Tom had to actually stop me tapping my foot mid-take as I was wobbling the camera…

Working with the choir was an absolute highlight for me; each individual maintaining such a different and unique energy, while strengthening the overall voice of the group. They owned their space and danced like they were in the club which made my job very easy.

For me, a choir is the perfect metaphor for the way Huntly brings people together. I wanted to honour the space their music creates, the expression, the connection and the love.”

Catch the band live here:

5/9/19 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne – Tickets here