Intercontinen7al “Some Thousand Feet High”
Music without border is a vision shared by many creative minds across the globe. Formed in 2020, the international collective Intercontinen7al makes history when they begin to record music across all seven continents, featuring over 30 musicians from 15 countries. The vast and diverse cultural and musical backgrounds and influences that go into their music creation is intriguing and leave many to think of “world music” in default, but that’s not where their sounds lay.
The featured track, “Some Thousand Feet High,” from their third album Intercontinen7al Vol. 3 taps into an universal sound with a universal message that appeal to everyone no matter where they are, reminding you of the human experience that we all share. Featuring thought-provoking lyrics and captivating pop melodies, the track is cinematic, moody, dark and melodic.
“Some Thousand Feet High” vibrates between the sultry atmosphere and vulnerable, emotive, urban experiences. Introspective and stunning, the track leaves you thoughts wandering through the sparks that evoke, remind, connect dots in your mind. Being so absolutely refreshing, yet at the same time, nostalgic and intimate.
In response to Russian and Ukrainian war, the profits from this record go toward Ukrainian refugee relief. Read our interview with Intercontinen7al about the massive process behind their completely virtual collaboration.
Punk Head: I love the moody atmosphere you created in “Some Thousand Feet High.” Can you tell me a little more about the song?
Intercontinen7al: Absolutely! So this song has an interesting origin story :) Some Thousand was completely composed and recorded remotely, using the music multi-track app BandLab. Jukerok, an extremely talented Egyptian musician, uploaded the main haunting piano, synth and guitar melodies into a BandLab project file back in June of 2021, and provided the title of "Some Thousand Feet High" with some lyrical ideas. Within a week our vocalist extraordinaire Andrasta from the United Kingdom provided some thought provoking words and melodic vocal parts, but maintaining the song title that Jukerok had established. Other artists in the group eventually began providing their respective parts by "stacking" their tracks onto the BandLab project, including USA's Dale Pearson on saxophone, Argentina's Nereo on bass, and Japan's Tnbt on drums.
PH: Was there any challenge that you encountered while making the track?
Intercontinen7al: As stated above, since the whole track was completed remotely instead of in a physical recording studio environment, it took a fair amount of back and forth communication within the BandLab chat environment to determine the status of individual instrumentation tracks. However, since this is INTERCONTINEN7AL's third album, we have developed a solid cadence regarding how to finalize these songs for the record.
PH: Can you tell us more about you as an artist?
Intercontinen7al: INTERCONTINEN7AL is truly unique, in that we are the first band to ever record original music with instrumentation across all 7 continents, to include Antarctica. Our latest album Volume 3 includes a remastered version of the song ‘Manor Hill,’ which includes instruments from all continents, and contains an opening classical guitar passage from Aymar de Lichtervelde and percussion from Stijn Thoolen, both stationed in Antarctica at the time of recording.
PH: Who are your biggest influences?
Intercontinen7al: Our influences vary considerably, due to the scope and scale of the group. For example, Andrasta lists Prince, Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman as major influences, while for me personally (Matt Smith, band founder and musician), I would list Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell and John Frusciante as artists that made a major footprint on my musical psyche. Our group covers a wide range of genres, such as heavy metal, pop, blues, funk, and even showtunes, so no stone is left unturned.
PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?
Intercontinen7al: One thing that I wanted to reiterate is that our band strives to raise money for respective charities with each release, and for Volume 3 all streaming proceeds or sales go towards Ukrainian refugee relief. Please consider donating to the cause.
