Los Angeles sweethearts, Santoros, are a bunch of romantics. Their dirty, ghoulish surf rock songs are obsessively self-referential, torn straight from the pages of their tequila-soaked memories and philosophies on love and loss. Life-affirming melodies and a conversational delivery are what so closely connect Santoros to their audience, and their brand new video for “When You Cry At Night,” the lead single off their upcoming EP Golden Rule, possesses both the endearing real talk and tripped-out allure that’s become so unique to the band’s sound.
“When You Cry At Night,” which opens with what sounds like a vintage combo organ melody (matched by the bass), followed by a dynamic mix of clean and distorted guitars, finds Santoros at a new stage in their ever-evolving music journey; one that’s allowed them to tap into new ideas and wrestle with emotions that they’d usually suppress and hide. This new found experimentation may be a real turning point for the band, who seem to be adventuring beyond the safety and simplicity of surfy garage tunes towards a more fully-developed sound.
I had the chance to chat with Santoros lead singer Jossef Virgen about the new EP, tapping into old memories, and shooting the music video with all the homies. Read my conversation with Jossef below and watch the exclusive premiere of the “When You Cry At Night” above.
There’s a very moody aesthetic to “When You Cry At Night”. Tell me the story behind the video.
Well, the idea came from the director Alfredo Lopez. He thought the song had a dark feel to it, so he wanted to capture that with the low lighting and everything.
The story behind the video is about a couple who is love, but also the situations and difficulties you have to navigate when her friends don’t really like you. So sometimes you just gotta go for what you love no matter what it takes.
The idea for the video came up in our studio one night just throwing ideas around with the Alfredo. We said let’s just shoot the music video here in our studio and invite friends, family, and fans. So that’s exactly what we did; we had over 20 people show up it was great. We could feel the love in the room.
So this is one of the tracks off the upcoming EP. Tell me a little more about what we can expect from the EP. How many songs?
“When You Cry At Night” is featured on our upcoming EP Golden Rule along with three other brand new songs. Golden Rule is exciting because it’s Santoros with no limits. These four songs are the first time we’ve been able to experiment, to take ideas out, and play with them. For me personally, I got to wrestle with emotions I usually push down and hide. The EP is us tapping into those notes and time signatures and memories we’ve been too scared to record before. For us, it’s a big deal.
How do you think your guys’ sound is different or has evolved since the full-length album came out?
Every new album has its own soul and energy and this one has a dark sound especially the single “When You Cry At Night ” and we still have our essentials, but we are evolving every time we do a new album.
How did you write the lyrics for “When You Cry At Night”? Did you draw from personal experience?
All my lyrics come from big moments in my life. Love and heartbreaks are my passion so I write about that most. I feel everyone can relate to having a relationship and especially one that’s not really working out. So I wrote the lyrics for “When You Cry At Night ” thinking about my earlier experiences with relationships and what I would say out loud to my partner if they were here now. Just tried to shove it all into a song!
What was the shooting like?
The shooting was a fun time like we always try to do when it’s time for shooting videos or recording albums. We make sure we treat friends and fans really good so they can feel part of the Santoros family. In the end, it’s all for them. Like we always say, “If you listen to Santoros you’re already part of the Santoros Family.”
For more from Santoros follow them on Instagram: @lossantorosband.