"when I was little, when I was young my mother told me the end's begun..."
Bathed in the purple hued midnight shades of 80's new wave, "Otherside" by Werwe, the artful solo project of Philadelphia based singer-songwrter Steven Martinho, rides on percolating guitar and synth lines against shifting drums with those appropriate synthetic shotgun slaps of sound. Martinho's deep resonant vox and self harmonies are perfectly placed against it all including the warbled synth sounds and drum highlights. While "Otherside" is informed by dark subject matter (what is darker than the end times or the manipulation of huge masses of people by fear of such?), Martinho imbues the track with a new wave swagger and sweetness that lies somewhere between the 80's dark romance wave of artists like Heaven 17 and the electro / dance pop tones of when Philip Oakey (Human League) hooked up with Giorgio Moroder.
Of the song he shares:
"'Otherside' is about the my mothers obsession with the end times. She would tell me that we were going to die and to be ready for God to come and take us. The Iraq War was going on a at the time and Saddam Hussein was all over the news. So naturally this was an opportunity for TV evangelists to ramp up their ratings. I grew up pushing the church out of my life because of my mothers projection and what was going on in my life. A decade of fear was instilled in me before I broke. 'Otherside' is me overcoming that."
-Robb Donker Curtius
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On his new project, Philadelphia based singer-songwriter Steven Martinho set out to create the music he's always wanted to make - skillfully crafted pop that remains unpretentious and fun. He taps into and honors his influences while blending them in his own unique way. Simple and catchy yet expertly refined - Werwe creates the kind of tunes that you can't help but sing along with.
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