What does it mean when your favourite band disappears from social media? We Are The City, a progressive indie rock band from Vancouver, deleted all of their Instagram photos, tweets, and their Facebook page in the middle of 2015. Many fans were perplexed by their behaviour. “What happened to We Are The City?” was a common thought that bombarded the minds of many fans, as demonstrated by nervous tweets and Facebook posts. However, by October 2015, they were back—with exciting news. They announced that they were releasing a new LP, but that was not the end of the story. We Are The City told fans they would be doing a 24/7 live-feed recording of their new album; people would be able to watch the band as they recorded their album.
The live feed began on October 12, 2015 at 12 PM. People were able to access the broadcast through www.wearethecity.ca. The band reported to viewers that they were in Serbia, recording in a little room above a nightclub. The broadcast reached a climax when a strange man came into the studio and started touching their equipment. He stole their laptop and spoke aggressively into the webcam. This was very confusing and worrisome for many viewers, including the band The Zolas, who expressed concern over Twitter: “What’s going on at the http://wearethecity.ca live stream right now is beyond fucked up. Everything ok over there guys?” The band was able to smooth things over with the man, and they continued to record. The album took a total of three weeks, with their live stream totaling 360 hours. The band titled their album Above Club, and it was released on November 12, 2015 with eight tracks.
Everyone was happy to hear that We Are The City was back and releasing a new album, but they had another announcement. Just a few weeks ago, in an interview with CBC radio, We Are The City revealed that the whole live stream had been a hoax! They had never been in Serbia, and it had not really been a live stream—it was all pre-recorded. It turned out that they had actually finished their album a year and a half prior.
So what inspired this bizarre but intriguing act of deception? In the CBC interview, the band claimed they were frustrated with social media. Specifically, they did not like the presentation and representation of social media. They were bored with the classic formula of depicting their best and coolest moments on a medium that was projected to the world (this explains their initial hiatus and inactivity on social media). They were tired of it, so they decided to do something different. Additionally, the band wanted to present an “alternate reality of storytelling,” so they created a different universe. They wanted to use social media and live streaming as a medium to tell a story.
How does a band convince the world they are recording an album on the other side of the world from where they actually are? It certainly was not easy. The band members (Andrew, Cayne, and David) went into incognito mode. They had to disguise themselves and wear costumes; Andrew embodied a stealthy hacker, David dressed as a “gangster,” and Cayne imitated a hipster. Close family members were not aware of their elaborate plan. On Instagram, they were geotagging from Serbia, when, really, they were in Vancouver the whole time. However, hiding from the world was just the beginning of their intricate scheme. They also had to record a lot of footage, and this took a long time. Since it was a 24/7 live stream, they had to film themselves sleeping. During the sleeping scenes, the camera would be angled towards one person lying in bed, and then another person would have to pause the recording while the person in bed changed sleeping positions. They took the footage they had and looped it, simulating the natural tossing and turning of a human’s sleeping state.
In the end, they exported a lot of footage and finished with 360 hours of recorded material—the longest film ever made. Interestingly, the band actually applied for the Guinness World Record for longest film in history (until 2020, when a 720-hour film is allegedly being released). On a 250 GB hard drive, their film is now available to pre-order on their website.
This is not the first time the band dabbled in the film. Just last year, Violent—a film that Andrew Huculiak (drummer) directed and wrote with others—screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival and Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival. The film is visually breathtaking, and quite an experience in itself. Set in Norway, Violent follows the life of Dagny, a young woman who moves to a big city. Drenched with existential undertones and minimalistic symbolism, the film illustrates the underpinnings of life and death, movement and inertia, and lightness and darkness. With a soundtrack composed by none other than the band themselves, the music drives the film into a dream-like state.
Besides their work in the film world, the release of the new album called for a world tour with shows in Europe, the United States, and Canada. Just a few weeks ago (February 27), We Are The City had a mesmerizing show in Toronto at Adelaide Hall. From the visually stunning lighting designed to match their musical sounds, to the pure and honest stage presence of the band, the three musicians led an aesthetically pleasing and energetic show. Playing tracks from both their new album (Above Club) as well as their older album (Violent) induced a sense of nostalgia, but also futurist hopes. At one point, Cayne temporarily took away phones from people that were recording because he did not want them to experience the show through their phone screens. The audience was completely engrossed by the atmospheric and entrancing music, which carried them back and forth through an endless time portal; time no longer existed when people were watching, listening, and experiencing We Are The City.
One thing is very clear—the band is passionate. They are absorbed by the work they do, which is demonstrated through their commitment and effort. They continue to push past boundaries in their art, experimenting with different musical sounds, ideas, and visuals. These ardent artists trigger inspiration as they pull people away from the mundane aspects of everyday life. Through their music and films, they say to their fans, “Hey! There is more out there in the world for you to explore and discover.” It is incredibly refreshing and motivating to see boundless dedication and excitement for their art. The band has come a long way since their formation in 2008. From winning film awards to simulating reality via fake internet broadcasting, We Are The City is not your typical band.
