(Premiere) Naveen’s Psychedelic New Music Video “Live It Out” + Interview

We’re excited to premiere Naveen’s latest music video “Live It Out” and it’s message here on Dropout Entertainment. The song centres around a theme of rebirth, and talks about living our lives to their fullest potential, a task that seemed increasingly hard as the pandemic drew on, but with hope, motivation and determination is slowly returning for many people. We’re not out of the thick of things yet, but having a positive mindset and “living it out” will go a long way in making it through this next lockdown. Naveen says “Nature has a way of keeping your spirits alive whether through arduous walks in the dead silence of winter- just breathing and taking one step at a time or stepping into a new season where life was coming back. As spring turned into summer the joy and appreciation of simply being alive became part of who I had become, delighting in the simple things of life. Live it Out emerged from this space of gratitude and the lyrics gave expression to an attitude that I was going to keep this feeling alive.” If this pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that you have to appreciate the little things in life, because things you take for granted today could be gone tomorrow, so why not appreciate it now?

A multi-province affair, the music video was shot in both Toronto by (myself) Jesse Read, as well as in Montreal by filmmaker Scott Glassman and Veronique Lambert (La Salle des Tortues). The video aims to share a story of rebirth and the cycle of life, set in a Canadian setting and psychedelic style, evoking emotions from the current situation that all humans have faced in 2021 but paying homage to the pop culture and music of postwar Europe, an Era that Naveen holds near and dear to her heart. The video got off to a tricky start, but sometimes when life closes one door it opens another! Half of the video was originally to be shot in Toronto’s High Park, but not being a local, Naveen got lost in the big city and the scene had to be scrapped, leaving us about an hour of studio time with purely green screen footage. With the sun already down and Naveen on her way back to Montreal the next morning, we were going to have to get creative. As luck would have it, a couple weeks back a stranger had knocked at her door, and it happened to be filmmaker Scott Glassman, asking to use her house as a background for a scene in his upcoming film. She called him back up, and they ended up shooting some beautiful footage up on snowy Mont Tremblant, giving the video a breath of cold Canadian air.

Naveen’s music is produced and arranged by LG Breton, (who’s also an amazing artist, you can find his music at www.lgbreton.com) and has such a unique retro sound to it, it gives you that essence of The Beatles while still sounding modern. It was a challenging but quite a fun and experimental task to try and achieve that same feeling through video, evoking retro and psychedelic styles of the 60’s and 70’s but in a more modern way. Click above to watch the video, and keep scrolling for our interview with Naveen, where we talk about the song, her inspirations, the pandemic, whats coming next and much more.

Interview with Naveen

The end of 2021 is getting closer, how has the year been for you?

The year has been one of struggles and evolution. Starting this year, 2021 with the pandemic still looming, I had to find ways to stay inspired and not let the despair of the isolation set in. My last single released in December 2020, Wall of Glass, gave a voice to dealing with my raw emotions; I reached out through my music to support others with dealing with theirs. This gave me a sense of unity and a feeling of belonging to humanity. Then hope knocked at the door with the blossoming of spring…I remember looking up at the sky and thinking, did we really make it, it feels like a rebirth.. Nature has a way of keeping your spirits alive whether through arduous walks in the dead silence of winter- just breathing and taking one step at a time or stepping into a new season where life was coming back. As spring turned into summer the joy and appreciation of simply being alive became part of who I had become delighting in the simple things of life. My current single Live it Out emerged from this space of gratitude and the lyrics gave expression to an attitude that I was going to keep this feeling alive. I took steps to educate myself on what an indie artist has to know and do in an everchanging music industry- I know I have to put in the time-it is ongoing and everchanging. However I am happy to be where I am currently because it is a personal journey which I am sharing with the world. I am really excited to conclude 2021 with my brand new single Live it Out, and the official Live it out music video coming out of my personal journey.

You’ve recently released your latest single “Live It Out”, what inspired the lyrics behind the song?

Writing the lyrics were inspired by the cycle of life. Even though with all the adversity of the pandemic, I learnt that being open to the simplest things could bring about feelings of unexpected joy and freedom..
Who produced the song and where was it recorded?
The song was recorded and mixed at G&B Productions, ‘No Name Studio’ Montreal’ Quebec. It was really nice to walk into the studio after all this while and see my fav producer LG Breton who also produced my debut EP Crosswalk and singles Wall of Glass.

What is one of your favourite memories of creating Live It Out?

My favourite memories of creating Live it Out, include banging on the door of closed music shop in Montreal in desperation to find a very much needed pair of head phones to put the demo track down. Then from there having all the various pieces like the recording, artwork, lyric video and the official video come together through an international effort.

Then the adventure of shooting the official Live it Out video where I had to just trust the process when things seemed out of control. This included travelling to the video shoot location in Toronto; it felt like something from Alice in Wonderland as the giant labyrinth city of Toronto had me in its grips. Having arrived late at the set with less than an hour left of studio time, things needed to move really fast; fast indeed they did leaving me little time to blink. Due to short daytime light, it turned dark before we knew it leaving no time to complete the shoot; luckily some great people in Montreal came to the rescue. A forest location was set up on Mont Royal, the city’s iconic mountain site. Then lo and behold we arrived there to realize that the mountain had turned into a sheet of ice overnight with artic gusty winds; this made the shoot terrifying and zany at the same time as we could have incurred broken bones.

Fast forward when all the pieces came together and I saw the complete video, I felt the magic of the late sixties and early seventies come alive; it was like coming home. I want to give a shout out to the team for making this happen- it was all sure worth it.

Which three bands would you say have influenced the sound of your music the most?

I feel in general my sound has been influenced and inspired by many Brit Invasion bands but I can say the Beatles, David Bowie and the Kinks.

What outside of other music inspires you to write?

I have an ingrained calling to address social issues. I was born to a family of a laureate -poet grandfather who used his works to advocate and influence change when the British left India in 1947. While growing up in the UK I was fascinated by the musical and cultural revolution where freedom and social change became the heartbeat of the era. As an educator, I realize that youth issues, including mental health, need to be voiced and supported more than ever: music can be an effective way to communicate that.

What is one the biggest lessons you learned over the pandemic?

Connecting to nature. It has been a personal journey, as I found myself totally alone in my bubble, socially isolated with nowhere to turn in the midst of a long and eeire lock down. I found that just walking on the snow-covered mountain changed my state from struggle to appreciation and then to a kind of joy. I realized taking one step at a time was enough and these steps amounted into finding my own inner courage. I realized that I had forgotten about the simple things in life. In slowing down I noticed I was more present to what life has to offer and willing to go along.

What do you have planned for the rest of 2021/2022?

I am very excited to release and share the official Live it Out video with the world. I look forward to making an album in vinyl in 2022, performing live, supporting causes, creating merch. With all that being said I am hopeful that we will be done with the pandemic.

Do you have any last words for our readers?

I think that the late sixties and seventies had some great things that could be revisted and I hope you get to experience the magic. I wish you love and freedom to realize your dreams as I have; see what the universe has in store for you for 2022. Cheers!