How To Make People Like You get ghosted in their spooky new video for In A House — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
Arriving just in time for Halloween, the eclectic Toronto trio’s latest artful clip is filled with spirits, fire and the destruction of a perfectly good cello. Not only is this their first story-based video, but it’s also one that they directed and edited themselves.
“The pandemic kinda helped us to rethink our plans as a band,” explains songwriter Ryan Luchuck. “It’s a lot harder to get people to pay attention to your music without a great video, but I couldn’t keep emptying my life savings every time we put out a single!”
So Luchuck took courses on lighting and editing and, with the help of the band and their close friends, spent two months putting together this mini-movie of a couple haunted by ghosts after moving into their new old house. Cindy Goh, HTMPLY’s percussionist and vocalist, really shows off her acting chops in an epic, emotional performance as the 1920s-era starlet spirit.
As a song, In A House is perfectly suited to this kind of cinematic video. But it didn’t start that way. “In A House sounded very different when it was first written, and it was in a different key”, says lead singer Norm Authier. “We rehearsed it but after a few attempts, we felt that the song sounded too upbeat, like a show tune.” Part of the challenge for Norm, a great belter, was singing so subtly. “I actually recorded the whole song 16 times in a row! I’d start singing and Ryan kept saying “Softer … No, softer than that … less … less, quieter!”
In A House appears on How To Make People Like You’s self-titled debut EP. Watch In A House above, listen to the full EP below, find out more about How To Make People Like You at their website, or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
