A blend of '90s throw-back grunge and American pop-punk with an Australian edge, Lismore rockers Human Dinosaur Machine's latest single is 'Cigarettes And Tea'.
The unsigned four-piece, who comprise Kazya K, Isaac Vincent, Mikey Cowin and Matthew 'Roachy' Roach, already have a high profile fan, with Midnight Oil's Rob Hirst."HDM are like caged tigers with broken teeth: too wild, too angry, too loud, too BIG to be boxed into a recording studio. See 'em live! See 'em soon!" Rob says.
scenestr is stoked to premiere the music video for 'Cigarettes And Tea' today. Enjoy.
'Cigarettes And Tea' is a song born from a conversation between Kazya and Roachy.
"I was delivering a pizza and Amy Shark hit triple j and I remember thinking 'this sounds real, I actually believe these lyrics'," Roachy says, "and it got me thinking about the difference between saying how you really feel and the sugar-coated version – and it's the same with lyrics.
"Kazya and I are close; we often talk and we are there for one another. I suggested an idea to Kazya and from what I know, Kazya comprised the lyrics to 'Cigarettes And Tea' from texts she had sent me in the weeks leading up to recording. I guess if you like 'real' real, you will dig this track."
The lyrics ended up coming from a deeply personal place, as Kazya explains.
"Writing 'Cigarettes And Tea' (lyrics) became an exercise – I wanted to be more honest in my lyrical writing without editing too heavily which I tend to do, and Roachy made a comment about how a lot of my text messages to him could be seen as lyrical.
"So I compiled a list of texts between us over the last year or so. I had just been diagnosed with bipolar, and laying the messages out on a page really hit home.
"So, 'Cigarettes And Tea' was born. It's about needing help, but not really wanting or knowing how to ask for it without putting too much pressure on people also going through things.
"I often try to make sure people can say no to helping me through my real bad times by reassuring them that I have other coping mechanisms (cigarettes and tea, video games and tv) and that I won't die without them, that I'm actually okay and I hope they are too, but I could kinda use some company.
"'Cigarettes And Tea' is probably one of the most honest songs that we have written so far, and is one of the more brutal insights into my brain. I love it," beams Kazya.
Roachy shares the story behind the stop-motion video clip to 'Cigarettes And Tea'. "Inspired by COVID-19 isolation and Kazya's line: 'I got 'The Witcher' and all six seasons of 'Community'', I wanted to make a stop-motion video game styled clip of a cigarette fighting a tea bag.
"I completed the stop-motion aspect during a 30-hour-long day during the second week of isolation then sent it off to a good friend of the band's (Tim Walsh) to add dialogue and video-game effects.
"Tim has been helping behind the scenes for about a year and this clip would not have been possible without him – or as fun.
"I really love that Kazya mentioned 'Community' in this track. It's my favourite show. 'Community''s creater (Dan Harmon) is known for complex and layered story telling, and we did our best to hold true to that fact when writing the dialogue for this clip."
