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The wait is over! Valley Kids have today released their new summer-soaked reggae single + video ‘Otherside’.
A feel-good song designed to uplift, ‘Otherside’ started life as a jam that lead singer Nai McGregor started playing out of the blue at a writing session. “It basically wrote itself!” says Valley Kids - which is made up of Nai (Te Atihaunui-a-paparangi, Ngati Maniapoto) - vocals, Peter Riley (Ngaruahine, Ngati Manuhiakai) - bass, Daniel Sugrue - guitar/vocals, and Ihaka Tukapua (Muaūpoko, Ngati Kahungunu) - Keyboard/Vocals. “‘Otherside’ is a song about the positive emotions that uplifting music can give you and that when you’re feeling down, there is always a different way to view your situation in a more favourable light.”
Following on from their 2021 debut single ‘Money’, sophomore ‘Make Me Feel’ (produced by DJ Mu a.k.a Fitchie, Fat Freddys Drop at Bay's Studio) and te reo Māori adaptation ‘Moni’, ‘Otherside’ is yet another single that showcases the bands range, skilful songwriting abilities and musicianship. Made with the support of NZ On Air, it was recorded at ‘HiViz Jamz HQ in Upper Hutt/Wellington, then mixed and mastered in-house by Thomas Te Taite.
The video for ‘Otherside’ was directed by Will Wrag, edited by Lee Gingold and is a fun must-watch. “We found that with a lot of Aotearoa-based summer reggae songs, the video concepts were based around cars and/or road-tripping with friends. We wanted to do our own spin on that and include our individual, comedic personalities within the video treatment.” The video succeeds in capturing the light-heartedness and positive message of the song but also the quintessential Valley Kids essence of not taking themselves too seriously.
Formed by Daniel and Peter in late 2020, Valley Kids have already made a significant splash on the Aotearoa music scene with their full and energetic arrangements which move over solid soul, RnB, reggae and rock grooves. They’ve released 3 singles, multiple live material and performed shows all across Aotearoa. Fans are also familiar with seeing Daniel (Tomorrow People, Sons of Zion, 1814), Peter (AJA, NLC, Creative Natives) and Nai (Creative Natives) performing with other Aotearoa standouts. With more writing and recording in the works, there’s still lots more to watch out for - so make sure you’re following Valley Kids!
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