By Bree Reyes |Staff Writer|
It was showtime; white lights began to change to a dark red, making the entrance of Dia Frampton, Joseph Trapanese, the orchestra, and a surprise appearance from Meg Frampton, Dia’s older sister and lead guitarist for the two shows.
“This is the first real Archis show ever, so thank you so much for coming. This really means a lot to us,” said Frampton before performing the duo’s last song of the night, “Let Me Love.”
Dia, the runner-up on season one of “The Voice”, teamed up with friend and composer Trapanese to form the musical duo, Archis. They recently performed two shows at the Swing House in Los Angeles to celebrate the release date of their self-titled extended play (EP), which became available Feb. 23.
The two shows marked the first time Archis played their music for an audience catered solely to them instead of an opening act for a tour with Lindsey Stirling.
Stirling is a violinist whose music combines the sound of the string instrument with techno beats.
Complete with an orchestra to make the music come alive, the show took place at the Swing House, a studio in L.A. on Casitas Avenue.
From the outside, it looked like a large gray square-building, giving the feel of a warehouse, but once inside, the studio embodied an art gallery.
The room that hosted the concert was dark, and the only light came from the stand-alone lights pointing to the stage.
Rows of glossy black seats filled the compact space, which was smaller than the lecture hall (Room 106) in University Hall.
Everyone began to slowly pour in, with people dressed in cocktail attire sitting in every chair, for a small intimate show of approximately 150 people.
The red lighting complimented the essence of the duo’s single, “Blood”, with Frampton belting out the empowering lyrics, “don’t let them win/don’t let them get under your skin, into your head/they’re full of it/you’re full of love/you prove them right if you give it up.”
From the presence of soft sounding violins to the pounding of large drums and loud trumpets, the Archis EP is a dramatic shift in sound from Frampton’s pop-driven solo album Red.
“It was so rushed,” said Frampton in an interview with Shepherd Express. “For the 10 songs that are on the album, there are like 15 producers, and it was just a little bit scatterbrained. I mean, it was amazing to work with all of these people. But for Meg & Dia, we worked with one producer and got in a studio and had this focus. With Red, it was like ‘Get this album out as soon as possible and work with all of these people and get a radio hit.”
Dia also acknowledged the fact that all six of Archis’ songs almost hit the five minute mark, making them practically ineligible for radio-play.
“We made Red and we were trying to get it on the radio and it didn’t happen,” she said. “So why should I do that again and be unhappy? It’s kind of nice because I know this will never be on the radio.”
Before the EP was released, Frampton explained the basis behind Archis, and the importance of making music for themselves.
“Joseph Trapanese, the other member and producer of Archis, and myself, are very proud of this and cannot wait to share our story with you all,” stated Frampton. “Thank you for your support and patience. When we created Archis, we decided we wanted to make music for ourselves, music that we are proud of, music that takes us on a journey. We hope you will come on that journey with us.”
With that being said, Dia and Trapanese have combined their talents for writing and composing to bring the world a new sound that represents music in its truest form.
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