Video Premiere: cranes are flying’s “”Don’t Wake Me Up.”

Robin: After the Jersey City-based, early incarnation of the band fell apart, I was living in Brooklyn and performing under the name cranes are flying as a solo act. Then I lost my job. Several of my high school friends lived in Philly and I was already somewhat enamored with the DIY music scene here. So I ended up moving to West Philly and connected with other musicians to work with immediately. George and I were roommates at a show house on Locust.

Lucas: I went to college in Chicago and moved back east shortly after. Crashing on my brother’s couch till I found a place was a much more attractive prospect than moving back in with my parents, and I think both Robin and I missed the musical chemistry we had kind of just discovered before going our separate ways.

How’s life in West Philly?

Robin: Summertime in West is the best. There was a block party on my street last weekend, everyone’s porch-hanging and there’s pretty much barbecues every day.

But there’s also a prominent, divisive local figure who recently passed away, which has prompted some unpleasant muck-slinging among different factions in the neighborhood. Plus this summer is seeing several of the active house venues shut down.

So, a lot of things that define West Philly for me are in flux right now and in some ways, I’m mourning what used to be. In some some ways, I’m excited for what may come next.

You seem especially excited about the new EP. But you’ve been making music for nearly a decade now, no?

Robin: Yes. I am proud of everything we’ve done up ’til now but this lineup and this material marks a turning point for us.

It’s who we’ve been as a live act for a couple years but this is the first recorded document of the incarnation. That, combined with the fact that it is the best quality recording/production we’ve managed to achieve, makes us especially excited to share this EP with people.

Lucas: I’m excited to share our first output since I stepped into this new role. For a long time I experienced Cranes as a fan, then as a drummer/backing vocalist. The whole time i was writing my own material, so I’m excited to have an outlet for that, but it also represents the next step toward Cranes becoming a fully collaborative effort rather than a frontman-oriented thing.

Tell us about Code Switching.

Robin: Code Switching is the thing where speakers of multiple languages alternate between languages in conversation maybe because one language best articulates a point or maybe in order to appeal to the overall context in other ways.

One track on the EP is called “Polyglot,” which is a term for a speaker of multiple languages. As we began to navigate a version of this band in which both Lucas and I sing, write songs, and play guitar and drums, we began thinking of each other as musical polyglots. And, thinking of our approach to this band as one that could involve as much “code switching” as necessary.

Lucas: As far as the lyrical themes of the record, I think most of the songs deal with code switching as a form of miscommunication or misdirection. They’re about the ways in which people try and sometimes fail to communicate in relationships, or succeed in concealing their true intentions, by changing their vocabulary to fit the conversation.

What’s happening in the video for “Don’t Wake Me Up?”

Robin: The main character, played by Kit Collins, is experiencing some shocking changes to her initial take on the world around her. In a way her experience of these changes is a love letter to the West Philly house show scene.

Lucas: It’s kind of a ghost story, only with party ghosts!!!!

What do you guys have coming up in the near future?

Robin: We are celebrating the release of the next single, “the Patriarch,” by playing Boot and Saddle on July 15th, with rad local acts Decent and DANAFOX.

Then, in August, we will release Code Switching in full. We’re planning an awesome show celebrating that as well. We’re also touring around the region this summer, so like New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, etc. Many shows to be announced in the coming weeks.