Proudest Ever
Proudest Ever’s Kelly & Phil are back; photographed by Kelly Jackson.
We introduced you to Brooklyn’s Proudest Ever last year with their debut Deals EP, and today we present their music video premiere for “Lead With Love”. Formerly known as Ferns, principle members Kelly Jackson (lead vocalist, & video director), and Phil Maves (multi-instrumentalist, also of the bi-coastal NYC by SF group Wild Decade) move conversations beyond the drudges & hang-ups that we all contend with for something more real that reaches for natural discoveries of enlightenment & exhilaration without any trace of sardonic irony. Proudest Ever are that glimmer of pride the shines forth from the most honest of personal places where sung out thoughts about life’s events (from the intimacies of interpersonal dynamics to observances of the minuscule) and occurrences are acted out like true-to-life scenes from the theater stage environments of our own existence. Kelly & Phil focus on the changes in life that spell growth (“Change The Light”, “Fading Name”, “Act To Follow”), opening channels of communication (“Can I Say”), decadence & human delusion (“Pajama Palace”), and learning to find new new standards of self-governance for strengthened bonds, care, affinity, and earnest attraction (“Lead With Love”).
Kelly Jackson’s video for “Lead With Love” features Proudest Ever’s singer & director along with Phil dancing in front of a backdrop that alternates between a projected Mario Kart game and a blank background canvas. While taking us for a Mario Kart spin through Neo Bowser City, Proudest Ever entertain the infinite possibilities of what could happen if the defenses of our competitive culture were traded for a form of exemplary leadership where all construct barriers of pretension are demolished. “Oh you built so many walls, let me tear them all apart,” Kelly sings with smiling confidence, “Imagine having nothing to protect at all…” The rat race paradigm is rendered between Jackson’s delivery, the action seen from the racing video game, and Proudest Ever’s response depicted in both the choreographed dance moves and their chords of infinite hope and endless possibilities for happiness. Proudest Ever here teaches to us move and look beyond the pettiness of aggressive, trivial sports of competition for what happens when we lay down our own foolish pride and perceived conceits of status for something more substantial. The old proverb of what happens when people stop working against each other and working with each other is exhibited in a song that ponders what wonders may come when conflicts are flipped around for collaborative opportunities. Be sure to read our following interview with Kelly Jackson & Phil Maves.
Describe the inspirations of leading and loving that impacted “Lead With Love.”
Kelly Jackson: The song starts with an illustration of personal disaster. It points (dramatically) to the types of events that start the emotional protection process and defense conditioning within us from an early age. We live in a society that often values ideals around being tough; to compete and compare and accept the tremendous brutality in the world as a fact of life. This song proposes the value of demolishing that belief system and those walls. It alludes to the value of what can be achieved through vulnerability and a lack of defenses. What would it mean, then, to lead with love? What would it look like or feel like to have nothing to protect?
Phil Maves: I remember Kelly coming back from a trip out west and describing a conversation she’d had with a friend about this exact topic. It seemed like a great subject for a song. As the music was being written, I remember pushing the chords and arrangement toward a dark-but-driven feel, to underscore what Kelly was putting across lyrically. It seems to me like hopeful defiance, especially with the brighter resolution from minor to major, plus a seventh chord to indicate traces of change, at the end of the song, which supports Kelly’s parting thoughts around opening up. Hold on, I’m being given a ticket for driving too slowly on the pretentiousness turnpike.
Proudest Ever’s Phil & Kelly; photographed by Kelly Jackson.
How did this become an opportunity to interject some Mario Kart visual performance art for the occasion?
Kelly: We always used to joke while writing this song that it sounded like driving angrily through heavy rain. I play MK8 regularly and I connected the level Neo Bowser City to that visual for the song. It’s also a fitting metaphor for the conditioning of competition and comparison I address in the song. MK8 encourages the take down of your opponents—creating chaos and frustration for others you are playing against online. You are constantly oscillating between protection and aggression. At the same time, it’s visually stunning. I’m certainly not exempt from it, I love playing it.
Phil: Early on, we gave this song a working title of “Large Marge,” in reference to the truck driver from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. With this video, we’ve lapped ourselves and we’re tying the song back to its origin.
What else is in the works from Proudest Ever? We loved your launch with the Deals EP.
Kelly: I want to make one more vid from Deals. We’re finalizing our song choice currently. And of course, new tunes.
Phil: Kelly and I have been writing new songs as a duo, and we’re working on pre-production now. We may road-test them too. The new material is even more concise and pop-oriented than the Deals EP. It’s probably going to feel less like a rock band, though there is still the same warmth and energy from Kelly’s vocal melodies and lyrics, and my hooks and chord changes.
Other artists that have been catching both of your collective ears & eyes?
Kelly: It’s no secret I’ve been obsessed with Grimes this year. I actually won her guitar on Amazon Music. It was quite the moment!
Hollering & singing with Proudest Ever’s Phil & Kelly; photographed by Kelly Jackson.
Phil: I go through probably 15-30 seconds of each song on the Spotify charts, just to get a sense of production and arrangement sensibilities that people are up to. I also started listening to old-timey 1940s radio dramas and detective serials. So yeah, I regularly change gears between being a sugar-addicted child and an old man. Is that what all those coked-up record execs in the 70s were like? Maybe I missed my calling and timeline.
Further insights into the Proudest Ever creative process?
Kelly: I’m trying to dig deeper into my chosen themes and explore points of view that I haven’t had the chance to consider fully.
Phil: The Deals EP was the first step toward Proudest Ever, away from our former band. The writing process had changed by the time we recorded those songs; Kelly was sharing lyrical themes and melodies in order to kick start songwriting, and I had moved into a multi-instrumentalist role and was instigating chord changes and riffs, and actually finishing off songs. Kelly and I ended up spending the last day in the studio for theDeals EP, along with our engineer, re-recording and refining some of the songs. Our drummer, Brandon, had given us a nice rhythmic foundation to work from. On “Lead With Love,” for example, I ended up re-recording all the rest of the instruments minus drums, while Kelly added harmonies to her lead vocals, and I dubbed in backing vocals. It gave Kelly and I a chance to work out our own collaborative dynamics, and move forward from the old working method, and into Proudest Ever.
Kelly & Phil of Proudest Ever having a stare down; photographed by Kelly Jackson.
Summer/fall plans for Proudest Ever?
Kelly: We’re really enjoying using technology like Periscope to invite people to enjoy our songs. We also really want to continue developing visual content along with our new material.
Phil: Absolutely. More songs, more content, more social media adventures. Follow us on Periscope for live insta-shows. Feels good for us to be behind the wheel and ahead of the curve.
Proudest Ever’s Deals EP is available now via Bandcamp.
