Providence indie rock act Forest Fires are walking a fine line between two styles. They meld atmospheric post-rock with guitar driven alternative rock to create and emphatic sound. Frontman Michael Sweet also sings emotional lyrics that shows his heart on his sleeve with each note. Anchored by the talents of drummer Brad Caetano, bassist Dan Macknight, and guitarists Richard Farrands and Calvin Cadoret, there’s no stopping any further musical creativity from this quintet. They also have an appreciation for the state they call home, which is featured on the music video for “Lessons Learned” that’s being premiered on Vanyaland today, a year-long follow-up to our premiere of the track during the summer of 2015.
Directed by Michael Higgs and Michael Bizzaco, the video is poignant with different scenes of Rhode Island’s landscape. The colors accented through Higgs’ filming also conveys the classic rustic New England setting while the main character ventures out into the wilderness.
“The concept of this video is something that Michael [Sweet] had literally before we even found the rest of our bandmates,” Macknight tells Vanyaland. “We wanted to take what is a rather uplifting song and juxtapose that with some darker themes. Michael Higgs and Michael Bizzaco took the original concept and knocked it out of the park.”
Macknight adds: “It deals with a character who is overcome by grief. He recently suffered a major loss and while he is trying to come to terms with his grief, he is followed by this mysterious hooded character. While I don’t want to get too specific as we deliberately left things for the viewer to interpret however they see it, the main character played by Edward Ventura spends the duration of the story searching for answers and some sort of consolation for his grief.”
It’s something people who have lost a loved one can definitely relate to. Make sure to catch Forest Fires’ next show at Ralph’s Rock Diner in Worcester on November 23 with Central Mass dream rock trio usLights, Boston shredders Swivel and The Widdershins.