Rising Finnish alt-pop band Pastel Stereo shares “The Joker,” alongside the single the band unveils its music video. 

The new cut follows on the band’s debut single “Disappear” which has seen support from the likes of NBHAP and Bands of Tomorrow, among others. Since the release of “Disappear” in early April, Pastel Stereo has developed a strong following across social media. Joining Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter only recently they have made their phone number available to fans; “People can text us and we have many WhatsApp groups. Fans send messages and keep in touch a lot!,” says the band; “Discord is the biggest chat platform atm, there we have PASTELLERS pastel stereo group, with nearly 2.000 followers and growing every day. We have weekly live video chats with people following us. A lot of new friendships have been born there!”, they enthuse. 

Born from a demo the band’s singer Eemeli wrote during a rainy day in Helsinki, “The Joker”, explains the band, is a sequel to “Disappear”; “we recorded both songs in Los Angeles during the same intense songwriting/recording session with our producer Colin Brittain. Most of the lyrics were written during the session and the rest of the song came together naturally. We wanted the guitar riff to sound cool but simple, something a kid practicing playing guitar would want to learn.”

Diving deeper into the idea behind the song the band says; “It’s about insecurities and not knowing how to convey your feelings for someone into words. Everyone knows how awkward and in retrospect ridiculous adolescent love and relationships can be. This song gives off serious teen movie vibes. The person in the song is trying to make his love interest fall for him and trying to make her laugh by acting like a fool.”

Directed by Eric Rojas (Jessie J, Chase Atlantic, Waterparks) with cinematography by Mike Koziel (ASAP ROCKY, NOAH CYRUS, XXXTENTACION), the video accompanying the single was shot at Bombay Beach in California.
Talking about the video the band says, “We shot the video in 6 hours. There was a place that looked like an abandoned city with dilapidated and deserted buildings and cars and spray paintings wherever you looked. It looked like a place that could easily be featured in a horror movie. When the video footage was ready we drove back to Los Angeles and held a memorable party in Hollywood.”

Formed at a music summer camp by singer Eemeli and guitarist Mikael, the band’s lineup was completed when Eemeli recruited high school friends Leo to play bass and Aslak to play drums. The band’s demos found their way to producer and songwriter Colin Brittain – known for his dynamic, genre-bending productions, including platinum LPs and singles for artists such as 5 Seconds of Summer, All Time Low, Avicii and Papa Roach – who invited them to make music with him. The band flew to Los Angeles and started working with Colin to define their sound, alongside a team of writers including Poppy and Yunglud’s collaborator Chris Greatti and American Teeth’s Elijah Noll. 

Photo Courtesy: Elijah Noll