Here are some things you should know about Tesla Boy:
1. They’re a Russian quartet made up of Anton Sevidov, Leo Zatagin, Stas “Pioneerball” Astakhov, and Mike Studnitsyn.
2. They make synth-stoked electronica with a pinch of 80s new wave pop. Remember Zoot Woman / Jacques Lu Cont / Les Rythmes Digitales? Probably not, but there are hints of all Stuart Price’s acts in Tesla Boy’s polished curves.
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3. Back in March they released a video for “Nothing” directed by LA auteur Ryan Patrick, who’s helmed videos for Cut Copy, The Weeknd and more. It’s less a music video than a rad short film featuring a girl under house arrest. She’s visited by some social worker peeps and asked to show them, using a life-size burlap doll, “what happened to Sergei.” This leads to the most brilliantly freaky and fabulous interpretive dancing and elegant dry humping sequence. As if a fully grown Maddie Ziegler was reworking Lars and the Real Girl as a murderous musical. She re-enacts her entire relationship with Sergei and we’re officially in love with this lead actress Jade-Lorna Sullivan.
4. For their video for “Circles”—a house-meets-Italo-disco number—they re-team with Patrick and Sullivan and the results are similarly stunning. It all takes place in a Chinese restaurant where faces are peeled and waving roast chickens are tangoed with. App dating is also involved in the storyline, and just like with “Nothing” some sick choreography is deployed (thanks to Denna Thomsen, who’s worked with Sigur Ros and Sia).
“The idea for this came from the band referencing referencing Cloud Atlas—my mind went to the actors playing different roles,” explains Patrick. “For me, the final treatment came from mixing references of the film Holy Motors, Mission Impossible (both of which I love), and old cartoons where a character is striving for an inanimate object that always seems to be getting away. The video also serves as a prequel to Tesla Boy’s Nothing video we released back in March. But I tried to make it so “Circles” could also stand its own too.”
Anton Sevidov—the Tesla Boy mastermind—had this to say about it. “I really like how my original ideas and impulses are captured by Ryan and presented with additional meanings. I feel nothing but joy collaborating with him. ‘Circles’ is a continuation of our creative tandem, which will surprise and inspire everyone in future.”
Consider us inspired. Also we’re definitely having Chinese for lunch.
