Happy Little Clouds: Rock you feel in your gut.
Happy Little Clouds is a Boston-based indie rock band whose songs will stick with you rain or shine. The band’s unfiltered, heartfelt lyrics are layered over bluesy vocals, a vintage grunge sound, and fresh-squeezed melodies. A mixture described as an "insanely catchy brand of indie rock."
". . . insanely catchy brand of indie-rock. . ." Happy Little Clouds, the brain-child of Jac Mestel, began in 2010 and has featured a lineup of several talented local musicians over the years. The current line up of the band includes Jac Mestel on vocals and guitar and Eric Donohue on bass. Special thanks to Rainy Logan and TJ Horne for filling in on drums. (We’re looking for a permanent drummer!)
Happy Little Clouds, the brain-child of Jac Mestel, began in 2010 and has featured a lineup of several talented local musicians over the years. The current line up of the band includes Jac Mestel (lead vocals and guitar), Jess Townsend (drums) and Derek Bergstrom (bass).
The band's newest release for the video for 'Leave it Up' came during what the band deemed 'Black Cat Friday,' which caught the attention of local music blog Vanyaland. 'Leave it Up' is a tune about not waiting around for things to happen (like most of us do,) but instead, having the impetus to do something about it. A call to action that definitely resonates in current times. We wanted the video to have that sense of movement and adventure that goes along with the song's nautical metaphors and the wave-like swells of the bassline. At the time, there were no creatures more curious and adventurous than Jac & Rainy's kitten brothers, Finkle and Einhorn. Yes, this is a video featuring a couple of cats who go on an adventure to unknown lands. All of these strange locales were thanks to our artist friends, each of whom created their own settings for Finkle and Einhorn to explore to the delight of anyone who loves a good cat video and rock music. A superb combination. The band's most acclaimed release is the striking video for ‘Beneath.’ The video tells the tale of identity empowerment that centers on rejecting other's expectations and embracing one's true self, especially in terms of exploring, struggling with, or confirming gender identity. It brings the audience out from beneath the comfy sheets of conformity to a place where inner children lead the way as only they can.
A live screening of the video was held at ONCE Somerville in early 2018, supported by live music and theatrics. Attendees have described the video as an “emotional tour de force” and said, “it felt very empowering to watch someone respond to societal pressure with a stronger determination to be even more authentically themselves.” Boston’s 2017 Rock 'n' Roll Rumble winner Carissa Johnson, whose band performed at the screening, said, “The song is tremendously catchy and the video is a great representation of how a lot of people feel.” In addition to being a lot of raucous fun, the event raised awareness of issues surrounding transgender rights in Massachusetts, raising over $500 for the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition in the process. The band has received other recognition for the video in local publications like Vanyaland and Boston Hassle, and on the national level in the most well-known queer magazine, The Advocate. The band also showcased the video at several film festivals, most notably Austin's longest-running film festival, aGLIFF. Now, the video is up for a 2018 Boston Music Award. Notable recent performances include opening for The Beths at Atwoods Tavern in Somerville, playing on the mainstage at the 2018 Boston Pride, playing with amazing local bands at Bust Out Boston 2018 festival, opening for the popular 90s "queer-core" band, Pansy Division, at ONCE Ballroom, opening for Madame Gandhi aka Kiran Gandhi former drummer for M.I.A. in 2019, and opening for Con Davison of Bad Bad Habits at Atwoods on January 27 2019. Due to the Coronvirus and laziness, all future shows will be virtual until things get better. Meanwhile, enjoy these two recent 2020 virtual appearances: |
Hey you. Listen up.
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Music video,"Beneath" gets nominated for "Best Music Video of the Year" at the 2018 Boston Music Awards Boston's best and biggest music award show
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Music video,"Beneath" mentioned in The Advocate the country's leading LGBTQ magazine
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Music video,"Beneath" premieres a Austin's AGLIFF film festival amongst top LGBTQ films
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Music video,"Beneath" mentioned in Vanyaland the top Boston music blog for local music
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Interview with Boston Hassle Boston's best indie/underground music/arts blog
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Played at Warped Tour 2012 Hartford, CT on the OurStage.com stage.
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Ourstage.com 2012 Warped Tour Regional Competition Winner for "Somebody Help Me Forget"
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