Hailing from Weimar, Germany, PHOSPHENES, a visual arts collective and band, was founded by composer and producer, Harry Starbuck, and vocalist/lyricist, Julee Bee. Although the band was not formed until 2017, they met accidentally many years ago when Julee, a former freelance journalist, interviewed Harry about his previous band for a music magazine. They realized throughout the course of the interview that they had striking similarities in their tastes in music, and PHOSPHENES is the result of a friendship that was cultivated with care in the following years. Named after one of Julee’s internationally published and exhibited Polaroids, PHOSPHENES is a collection of the choicest fruits from Electro, Rock, Pop, and Wave influences.
For their first project, PHOSPHENES has decided to hit the ground running and start 2018 strong as they release Find Us Where We’re Hiding (May 25). The album was mastered by Rob Murray whose client list includes artists like Sia, Miike Snow and Odesza. On Find Us Where We’re Hiding, the duo is supported by guitarist Florian Walther, who (among other commitments) is a member of the live band on “The Voice.” Florian remarks, “I was a child when I discovered, that making music came as naturally to me as breathing. It’s a beautiful thing and a privilege for me to work together with such talented artists.” Find Us Where We’re Hiding will be accompanied by two visually stirring and colorful music videos that underline the album concept. Concerning these music videos Julee states, “As PHOSPHENES is our newborn baby, I would say we are very proud of finishing the record and everything that accompanies it – especially the videos. We produced almost everything ourselves – the story, the production design, the filming, cutting and editing. The learning curve here was especially steep but this way everything looks and sounds exactly the way we intended it to.”
Glide is proud to premiere the video for “Where Forever Is” off Find Us Where We’re Hiding, a dreamy ten minute plus sound voyage filled with woozy and lush textures that continually peak and evolve. PHOSPHENES make reminiscent of Sigur Rós’ avante rock, maintaining a cinematic flair and a flair for distinguishing song patterns.
“The video is a symbol for losing the magic of the best times of your teenage days and the desperate attempt as a dream-person, to hold on to it, but time (the dark) is stronger, and in the end you make your peace with it…with a tear and a heartbreaking memory,” says Bee.
