Like
their Trip Hop / Downbeat song, “Stunning,” from their album,
Songs To Live
And Die By, the trio 8mm (as in the film),
are simply stunning as multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Sean
Beavan, singer Juliette Beavan and drummer Jon Nicholson are quickly becoming
one of the hottest acts on what some might refer to as the noir music scene. In
fact, however in the view of this magazine and in 8mm’s own opinion they are
simply writing and performing songs that are couched in reality.
Juliette explains, “I think
that what is true for Sean and I, is we are not interested in being
unnecessarily melodramatic, because what’s real is dramatic enough. Your
experience and moments in life are drama and divinity in and of themselves. We
aren’t willing to wallow in it. I think there is enough there that we don’t need
to be embellishing it. For me, having you say that it is realistic, is a real
compliment.”
Sean adds, “I am definitely more interested in delving
into moments, and all of the moments that we fit into a couple of minutes may be
painful, but the end result when you listen to it is cathartic. I think that
while listening to some songs may be painful or may be hard to talk about, just
knowing that someone else is going through this, makes you feel uplifted. That
is kind of how I feel about our songs, that there is joy in them. I want every
song to make a person cry. I don’t cry because music makes me sad, I cry because
it is beautiful.”
Juliette adds, “For us it is about those acute moments
and the little turns in life.”
“There are songwriters out there who are fantastic at
just making you feel elated, and all the power to them. That is really a strong
emotion, and I love that. I think that one of the best at that right now is
Benjamin Flowers from The Chillers, who makes you want to throw your arms up in
the air. He is like the Paul McCartney of our generation. He is really great at
it, but it’s not our songs,” says Sean.
The song, “Stunning,” is both hauntingly beautiful and
deliciously seductive at the same time, as Juliette Beavan’s provocative vocals
have their way with the lyrics, and Sean Beavan and Jon Nicholson’s vibes create
the mood.
“I think for me, “Stunning,” is a pretty blatantly
lascivious song, and intentionally so. It has bittersweet lyrics, but the thing
about it is you just don’t care. It is fun, it’s an enjoyable ride, and you know
that. It’s probably bad for you, but you’re going do it anyway,” says Juliette.
Unlike some singers or actors
who have to mentally and emotionally, prepare themselves to play a part that is
not the case for Juliette Beavan when she sings 8mm’s songs. “When we write the
songs, the characters and the storylines for each song are so completely
realized for me, that there is not much preparation for it. They aren’t hard for
me to sing. From the moment that I hear the first note in the track, I know who
I am in that moment and we just go from there.”
Sean echoes those
sentiments,” Juliette is a remarkable talent, and she is an “in the moment,”
person naturally, whereas most professional songwriters are not “in the moment,”
they are, “of the moment.” Because Juliette is a storywriter, she tells stories,
and those characters are all bits and pieces of everyone that we have ever
known, or a person that she saw crying in her coffee at Starbucks, and whom she
has just made up a whole world around. Because of that she just falls into the
story right away, and even when she first starts singing the track in the
studio, I never
have to
wait for her to get into character.”
There is a bit of humor,
although I am sure, not for the airline industry, in how the song, “Stunning,”
came to be. “That song started out as an idea for a cover of the Eagles’, “Lyin’
Eyes.” I was literally flying back from