Tuesday's Tunes: Motel 7 Share Summery New Track " Are We There Yet ? "

 

Meet Motel 7, the Los Angeles-based duo whose sun-drenched and vulnerable ballads, odes to summer, and recounts of unrequited love underscore the excitement of youth—ups, downs, and everything in between. Forged together from their shared appreciation of the softer side of electronic production while students together at music school, Anton Khabbaz, and Dylan Jagger Lee sensed a creative vacuum they needed to fill. After several sessions testing the waters and valuing spontaneity, Motel 7 was born.

Motel 7 has shared their new single “Are We There Yet,” an ode to an epic road trip. Over high energy indie guitar riffs, drums, and a singable hook, “Are We There Yet” captures a feeling of escapism in a time where escapism is not only desired but downright essential. No hyperbole here, Motel 7’s new track is a clear-cut front runner for the ultimate 2021 summer song. In conjunction with the release is their ocean-soaked music video directed by Paris Brosnan. Climbing into a 1960’s marigold Mustang, Khabbaz and Lee traverse down the iconic Southern California PCH. The overall theme for the music video was built around the concept of two boys heading out on a spontaneous adventure the day after having a long night out in town. 

 

Motel 7 shares this of their single: 

“We wanna make this feel like a song you are hearing for the first time, every time you spin it. That “never gets old” effect. The song had to feel big and dynamic, and have that climatic growth gradually build from the moment you press play. One way we like to achieve this effect is by having different vocal melodies in each of our verses, like just having more of a free flow and arrangement throughout ya know? In addition to that, we layer our vocals quite a bit, and differently for each section of the song. The song's main energy is highlighted primarily through the vocals and in the choruses we got the wide distorted guitars to contrast those drums. This song is one of our most favorites on this upcoming project, it just feels so fucking good. It feels like summer. We drowned this shit in so many ambient textures and foley that subtly fill in the pockets of atmosphere between the vocals and main instrumentation. For sure a tune to blast super super loud in the car with the windows down!!!!!!!”

 

Motel 7 shares this of their music video: 

“We made this video with our friends and rented this vintage mustang that ended up breaking down like two times a day haha, almost had to get it towed... but we made it work. We had our friend follow us down the PCH while his crew was filming in his car and a drone for some aerial footage. It was a Saturday, so PCH traffic was nuts… so many people were honking at us for blocking the road lol. We managed to get some amazing shots, we literally made a movie. The drum set we got for this video was bought off craigslist for like $200, and then we just had an old used guitar laying around, our boy Paris spray painted the shit out of it all. It really brought out some color in this video for sure. The second day we threw the drums and guitar in our buddy’s pool and then took them out at sunset to bring it to the ocean. People were out walking their dogs and just wondering why on earth there are two dudes smashing a kit and throwing a guitar in the air on Sunday afternoon. Dylan was even feeling a bit sick that day as he fell off a rock during the first day of the shoot and hurt his head, but we were like fuck it, we gotta just live a little for this video and risk it a bit. Ultimately there was no final destination in mind and this adventurous road trip resulted in a series of reckless fun, and unexpectedly one of the best days we have ever had.”