No, you’re not seeing things if you spot some Guelph landmarks in a local band’s new music video.
Royal Castles have released a video for their latest song, Love This Town, which features shots of places in Guelph and Elora. The video can be seen below:
The video comes as the band is gearing up to release their next album Money Song. Since premiering on Aug. 20, the video has received a positive response from fans and residents, giving them a sense of nostalgia.
“It has definitely taken on this notion that we need to kind of appreciate what we still have and what we love,” said band member Jordan Gabriel, a member of Royal Castles, about the meaning behind the song and video.
“We all moved here in our early 20s, for one reason or another, and have continued to stay and we have all been involved in the downtown community and the service industry, and we all continue to be involved in different parts of the community and have a love for it.”
While Toronto and Waterloo Region are also in the video, Gabriel estimates 85 to 90 per cent of the shots are from Guelph. He adds all the footage for Love This Town has been taken from the band members' phones or shot on their phones.
“A lot of that footage was never really captured with the thought that it was going into a video,” said Gabriel, adding the idea came from his band mate, Katrin Sawatzky Johnson.
One shot that stood out to Gabriel from the video is a clip he captured around the beginning of the pandemic. He is standing outside the home of band members AJ Johnson and Sawatzky Johnson as they talk to him through their window, as they all couldn't be together.
In the window's reflection, Gabriel points out that he can see himself.
“Even though the distance was there, it wasn't,” he said.
Love This Town and the album Money Song were written pre-pandemic. Gabriel explains the band was supposed to release the album last summer; however, they held off as there were no live performances.
“As we've gone along, the uncertainty of what the world is going to bring has been a part of our daily lives and we thought, 'Well, we're not going to sit on this forever,' and we decided let's release it this summer and fall,” he said.
As vaccination rates have increased and things are opening up again, Royal Castles was able to perform live together again at Riverfest Elora’s Wish You Were Here.
“We were lucky enough to play at that, man did that feel good,” said Gabriel.
While now shows are scheduled yet, Gabriel does mention their next song, Frickin Pretty, is being released on Friday. Royal Castles can be found on Spotify and Apple Music. For more information about the band, check out their website.
