One of my favorite bands out in LA are alt rock Chanel & The Circus. The reason is simple – they make sad songs happy. They make heartbreaks hurt less and they are the cure for all things human that make us suffer. In addition to this, as performers they make crowds go wild. I know it as I witnessed it at our last Halloween Party at Southbay Customs in El Segundo - motor bike shop turned gallery and concert venue. This was back in the day when we could hug and cuddle and watch live bands perform. Well that time, Chanel & The Circus blew the roof off with their incredible dance routine and energetic performance featuring powerful dancer Kirby LaBrea. You can read all about their duo shows in a great piece by Baby Ballou.
They also happen to have a bimonthly Secret Circus show at a warehouse in Downtown LA with all sorts of cabaret performances. It’s all called off now but luckily band leader Chanel Samson (they/them), is an extremely talented video artist, and they just released their latest video for the new single “I WANNA DO DRUGS.” The song carries a theme close to home for Chanel who is sober.
“I’ve been sober now for 2 years following the sudden decline in my health, which is still a mystery. My body is super sensitive to drugs of any sort, caffeine, booze, sugar, weed, etc so I had to stop everything and figure out a new way of life. I’m great at partying sober now because I’m used to it and get high off the people, who often ask me what I’m on,” says Chanel.
“I don’t have anyone to perform to at this time, so I’ve been focusing more on my emotional side. I often figure out who I am when I am performing. I am almost in this fight or flight mode and I put everything out there with zero fear…and not having that has been scary,” says Chanel.
When the pandemic started, they moved back home and produced this music video with their father, a fellow musician and filmmaker, creating monochromatic scenes symbolizing the drugs themselves (green for weed, brown for coffee, yellow for ecstasy, etc.). Chanel stars in the video playing every single character and performs with their fellow cloned band members as the ultimate “quarantine rock band”, masked and covered in slime. They gathered props around the house to make the monochromatic scenes and dressed up as the four musicians against blue screen to create a full band.
The whole family was involved in dropping pills on Chanel to create a drowning effect. “It took about two weeks to film because of all the makeup and set changes, but quarantine afforded us that time to be hyper perfectionist about it.” Chanel hopes the video is as fun for others to watch as it was to create, and makes you dance, laugh, and feel less alone during this challenging time in our world. "I think the song plays into the pandemic because we’re all in our houses wanting to go out and party and we physically can’t. It’s also an angsty rock song and everyone needs to let out some anger right about now.”
For me the song and the video came out at a perfect time. I can totally relate to “having multiple breakdowns” during quarantine and pushing one’s own physical limitations to achieve a sense of thrill and excitement during a time so chaotic and uncertain as a pandemic.
“I WANNA DO DRUGS” is a bridge between where they are and where they want to be musically.Stay tuned for their next single “Life Takes Time” that comes out beginning of November and has a more emotional indie rock vibe. "Changing my whole look to something much more natural is about to happen right now," adds Chanel. We can't wait to see what comes next for the glittery or not so glittery any more Chanel & The Circus!
Tell us in the comments what you think of the song and video!
We love it truly and it makes us high (no joke!)
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