The Family Rain are somewhat “the new kids on the
block” in terms of the Alternative Rock genre, however, despite their
relatively recent formation, they have made a big impact in some of the
country’s top music magazines such as NME and Q. The three brothers from Bath,
having performed together since they were young , released their first EP
“Pushing It” in May 2013, attracting attention due to their grungy music video
and cohesive promotional campaign. Thanks to their repeatable “drop” logo, the
Family are able to maintain this cohesion across all of their work, having also
featured this design on three of the four singles they released prior to the
album “Under the Volcano”. This has helped to create a certain metanarrative
early on in their career, focusing on the band as a whole, rather than just the
singer, Will. Due to this, the band is more inclined to use their music videos
as an art form rather than a mere tool for promoting themselves. This is shown
by their experimental attitude towards video making, as displayed by the video
to “Reason to Die”, which features interactivity, enabling the viewer to move
the camera around the members of the band. This backs up Matt Hanson’s theory
of music videos being an art form, having stated that “music videos stand in a
uniquely important position, acting as a conference point for the more freeform
moving image arts”. However, in contrast, Steven Archer believes that “images
are a necessary but less interesting accompaniment to music”, seeing the video
as a necessary tool for promotional activity. How then does The Family Rain use
their video to “Pushing It”?
Andrew Goodwin established many conventions of music videos that now make it easy to point analyse how a band is using the video, and to what end. For example, the relationship between the lyrics and visuals is key in establishing whether the video is illustrative, amplifying or disjunctive. In the case of this video, the lyrics are somewhat disjunctive in relation to the video. Although certain links can be made to the boxing scene depicted, such as “I'm pushing it hard to see if you can be there by yourselves” could have some correlation with the fight, however, from personal reference with the band, the song isn’t actually about boxing at all, neither is it about any other kind of sport. It refers to an orgy that everyone knows about, but don’t want to talk about. This therefore categorizes the song as very disjunctive in relation to its video. So then perhaps the video’s primary aim is merely to be an art form, like watching a video with music, rather than a music video? This appears to make sense as the cutting rate is reflected by the changes in the music, as is the action on screen. It could then be seen conventional of an artistic approach as it is purposely trying to break conventions, making something enjoyable to watch, but not primarily for financial gain. Goodwin also identified the notion of looking as one of the conventions of music videos, and this can be applied to the one in question, particularly in the case of voyeurism of the female body. While not necessarily an intentional use of the female body in this way, the boxing match depicted in the video is between two females. On one hand, one may see this as a positive view of females, breaking the stereotypes of being the weaker gender, however, others may see it as an unnecessary use of the female body to promote the band, through the sexual gratification of watching them fight.
It’s now interesting to look at how the designs of both the album cover the advertisement are used to represent the band in a certain way. The most immediate signifier in both is not, as in the music video, the use of women, but is the use of the same drop logo that it seen throughout work by the Family Rain. Immediately, when an individual sees such a logo, they recognise it as that brand, which would lead an audience to believe that the Family Rain is a largely commercial band looking to make money out of the process, however, on the other hand, the logo could merely be a way of making themselves recognisable in the ever growing market of popular music; a method of setting them apart from the rest of the crowd. A similar method of advertising was used by companies such as Nike and Apple, who are now known by their logos, without the need for any text below. Continued exposure to this kind of advertising means that people cannot help but recognise a brand, even if it is as simple as a skin of a bass drum, as in the music video.
Another signifier is the layout used of both the digipack and the advert. Both are effectively the same thing, but the advert is just stretched at the sides in order to make it fit as a Facebook cover photo. This brings us back to the idea of cohesion. Because the band’s advertising campaign has been so cohesive, it is easily repeatable, just in slightly different ways. Had they wanted to, the band could’ve easily set the music video to the song in the hair salon depicted in the digipack and advert, and would’ve had the same effect, due to the disjuncture between the lyrics and the visuals. This works to build up an image of the band, and being a relatively new band, they could do with all the publicity they can. The cohesive image then becomes a “collector’s item” to the most die-hard of fans, who want to have everything ever produced by them, working as a repeatable source of income to the band, and of the course the record label. It is therefore clear that Dyer’s theory is easily applied to The Family Rain. As much as the audience does not want to think that the band is a commodity that can be used to obtain your money (me so more than most), the methodology of their promotional campaign is undeniably designed to generate as much income as possible
In conclusion, it pains me to say that in this particular case of The Family Rain’s “Pushing It” campaign, the music video was a tool for promoting the artist. While it was not nearly as cohesive as the digipack and advert, the band used the video to reinforce their image and metanarrative. This is not to say that the music video did not contain any aspects of art, as its disjunctive nature does not directly serve to promote them, however, it cannot be said that the music video had no ulterior motives in its conception. Despite this fact though, I, as an avid fan of the band, do not feel as pained by this knowledge as I may if I had never met them in person. I believe that having met the band, the choice to buy their products does not come from, as Dyer puts it, “a desire to complete the band’s image”, but comes from a will to see the band do well. Buying their products because I think they’re worth it. The concept of star-quality has somewhat disappeared from my fandom. Perhaps that is why they say “never meet your heroes”.
Andrew Goodwin established many conventions of music videos that now make it easy to point analyse how a band is using the video, and to what end. For example, the relationship between the lyrics and visuals is key in establishing whether the video is illustrative, amplifying or disjunctive. In the case of this video, the lyrics are somewhat disjunctive in relation to the video. Although certain links can be made to the boxing scene depicted, such as “I'm pushing it hard to see if you can be there by yourselves” could have some correlation with the fight, however, from personal reference with the band, the song isn’t actually about boxing at all, neither is it about any other kind of sport. It refers to an orgy that everyone knows about, but don’t want to talk about. This therefore categorizes the song as very disjunctive in relation to its video. So then perhaps the video’s primary aim is merely to be an art form, like watching a video with music, rather than a music video? This appears to make sense as the cutting rate is reflected by the changes in the music, as is the action on screen. It could then be seen conventional of an artistic approach as it is purposely trying to break conventions, making something enjoyable to watch, but not primarily for financial gain. Goodwin also identified the notion of looking as one of the conventions of music videos, and this can be applied to the one in question, particularly in the case of voyeurism of the female body. While not necessarily an intentional use of the female body in this way, the boxing match depicted in the video is between two females. On one hand, one may see this as a positive view of females, breaking the stereotypes of being the weaker gender, however, others may see it as an unnecessary use of the female body to promote the band, through the sexual gratification of watching them fight.
It’s now interesting to look at how the designs of both the album cover the advertisement are used to represent the band in a certain way. The most immediate signifier in both is not, as in the music video, the use of women, but is the use of the same drop logo that it seen throughout work by the Family Rain. Immediately, when an individual sees such a logo, they recognise it as that brand, which would lead an audience to believe that the Family Rain is a largely commercial band looking to make money out of the process, however, on the other hand, the logo could merely be a way of making themselves recognisable in the ever growing market of popular music; a method of setting them apart from the rest of the crowd. A similar method of advertising was used by companies such as Nike and Apple, who are now known by their logos, without the need for any text below. Continued exposure to this kind of advertising means that people cannot help but recognise a brand, even if it is as simple as a skin of a bass drum, as in the music video.
Another signifier is the layout used of both the digipack and the advert. Both are effectively the same thing, but the advert is just stretched at the sides in order to make it fit as a Facebook cover photo. This brings us back to the idea of cohesion. Because the band’s advertising campaign has been so cohesive, it is easily repeatable, just in slightly different ways. Had they wanted to, the band could’ve easily set the music video to the song in the hair salon depicted in the digipack and advert, and would’ve had the same effect, due to the disjuncture between the lyrics and the visuals. This works to build up an image of the band, and being a relatively new band, they could do with all the publicity they can. The cohesive image then becomes a “collector’s item” to the most die-hard of fans, who want to have everything ever produced by them, working as a repeatable source of income to the band, and of the course the record label. It is therefore clear that Dyer’s theory is easily applied to The Family Rain. As much as the audience does not want to think that the band is a commodity that can be used to obtain your money (me so more than most), the methodology of their promotional campaign is undeniably designed to generate as much income as possible
In conclusion, it pains me to say that in this particular case of The Family Rain’s “Pushing It” campaign, the music video was a tool for promoting the artist. While it was not nearly as cohesive as the digipack and advert, the band used the video to reinforce their image and metanarrative. This is not to say that the music video did not contain any aspects of art, as its disjunctive nature does not directly serve to promote them, however, it cannot be said that the music video had no ulterior motives in its conception. Despite this fact though, I, as an avid fan of the band, do not feel as pained by this knowledge as I may if I had never met them in person. I believe that having met the band, the choice to buy their products does not come from, as Dyer puts it, “a desire to complete the band’s image”, but comes from a will to see the band do well. Buying their products because I think they’re worth it. The concept of star-quality has somewhat disappeared from my fandom. Perhaps that is why they say “never meet your heroes”.
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| Stills from "Pushing It" - Official Music Video |
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| The Family Rain "Pushing It" EP - Album Cover |
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| The Family Rain "Pushing It" EP - Facebook Advertisement |
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