The Days Between Stations music video collaboration with Durga McBroom is called “Being.” The band and Durga are available for interviews on both video and the new Days Between Stations’ album, “Perpetual Motion Machines (Music for a Film).”
The group’s manager and video producer Erik
Nielsen created the video from concept to final editing. “He’s produced all of
our music videos,” guitarist Sepand Samzadeh says. “This is
our third video shoot with Erik, he has a minimalist approach to
matching visuals to the music. He has a great sense of style, creativity,
strong leadership qualities, and extensive knowledge of technology.” Erik
and his Supposable Productions have worked with the classic rock and prog community
for a variety of video productions—such as streaming the ProgStock
Festival, video production for Las Vegas’ hit show “Raiding the Rock
Vault,” and music videos for many artists—notably Dave Kerzner, Asia Featuring
John Payne and hard rock band “Last in Line” on Frontiers Records.
Through the years prog greats including Yes’s Billy
Sherwood, Peter Banks, and Rick Wakeman, plus XTC’s Colin Moulding have
collaborated with Days Between Stations. Then there’s Durga McBroom, known for
her phenomenal musical and theatrical background, including singing for Pink
Floyd from 1987-1994, acting and dancing as the character “Heels” in the
movie “Flashdance,” and hitting number 1 on the Billboard dance
charts and on Top of the Pops with the song “(Can You) Feel the Passion.” Now
along with her sister Lorelei, she’s in the Australian Pink Floyd Show and
recent starring role in the satire movie, “Sammy-Gate.”
Billy Sherwood produced Durga with
keyboardist Oscar Fuentes Bills and Sepand for a song and music video “Witness
the End of the World” on the album “Giants,” released in 2020 and voted
track of the week by Prog magazine readers.
When it came time to find a singer for “Being,” the only song with lyrics on “Perpetual Motion Machines,” the band knew Durga was a perfect fit. The “Being” music video makes use of colors, light, and people! Actress Rae Dawn Chong felt Durga’s “goddess power” when she saw “Being,” and posted in the comments, “
It is a joy to see you in your element. I love the message.”
Erik wanted to first showcase Durga’s amazing stage
presence and present the band in a stylized performance setting, “and use some
simple visual effects to suggest different aspects of the concept of ‘Being.’”
Oscar based the song’s lyrics around the general concept of existence and
trying to interject what artist Jean-Paul Bourdier’s art “inspired us to do,
and we let the music speak for itself.” (“Perpetual Motion Machines”
initially was intended to be a film soundtrack for a documentary on the
artist.)
“Seeds,” the first video ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kmLDoapIkg ) in “Perpetual Motion Machines” won track of the week by Prog UK readers. ProgRock.com cites “Being” as one of the best epic songs of 2024. MusikReviews.de praises everyone’s work, citing Durga closing “the all-round emotionally cinematic and moving album with a quiet song that gives the entire album an unusual (vocal) twist.” Echoes and Dust praises Durga for her “angelic, soulful voice” and makes comparisons throughout the review to a range of classic treats including music by Alan Parsons and David Bowie!
The band sees Durga as a force like a Jedi! Sepand says, “She has so much experience and talent and her confidence just glides in with her energy. She is a true professional.” One of Sepand’s fondest memories is playing, and when she started singing, “It feels like thunder struck my back. I looked over to Oscar and we telepathically spoke with each other... the message was if we died that day, we were grateful for this moment, we experienced brilliance at its best.”
Likewise, Durga loves collaborating, which allows her
to “add my brand of art to that of others, thereby creating something totally
new and different. I would urge people to find other artists to collaborate
with. You learn a lot, and it can push you out of your comfort zone.” Durga
feels much respect for Oscar’s lyric writing, “I learned how to
make his vision come alive by making it personal.”
Sepand relates, “When you are surrounded by so
much love, talent and creativity everyone elevates you to your new
best.
Formed 20 years ago in Los Angeles, Sepand and keyboardist Oscar Fuentes Bills named the band after Steve Erickson’s novel “Days Between Stations.” The
Pineapple Thief’s Bruce Soord inspired the band to work on their music after he
used some of Sepand and Oscar’s musical experiments as the basis for “Saturday”
on The Pineapple Thief’s “12 Stories Down” album. The duo continued
to work with a range of musicians on what became their first release, “Days
Between Stations,” in 2007. Their 2012 recording “In Extremis”
was produced by Yes’ Billy Sherwood. In 2020 they released “Giants.”
