Boldly showing off 80s aesthetic, Olympia Maru - comprised of local indie music veterans, Taken by Cars' Siopao Chua (bass) and Bryan Kong (guitar),  Shinji Tanaka (Gaijin/ Squid 9) on drums and Ahmad Tanji (We Are Imaginary/ Washington Drama Club) on vocals -  comes out with a new video for 'Sky Falling', the eponymous track from the band's debut album set to be released by the end of this month.

The video appears to deliver a variety of messages, which make them difficult to distinguish, adding to its flat out nostalgic appeal. And all it takes is a retro look achieved by the timestamp, shots of the band members, and random objects in motion to create a sense of madness. It’s the perfect match to the four-piece’s strange impression when it comes to their music.

In an exclusive interview with Bandwagon, the band talks about the title track, accompanying video, and the importance of music format today.

Can you tell us a bit more about Sky Falling and how you translated the song to video?

The song is simply about a feeling... When you wake up on some days and it feels so unreal to be alive and existing, yet super real at the same time? Sometimes your senses suddenly become completely attuned to everything around you and you realize you're living in the reality of the moment, breathing in air into your lungs. It's hard to put into words, but I'd like to believe everyone who's been alive has felt this at some point. 

The video was conceptualized, shot, and edited by our director, visual artist Charles Buenconsejo, who's now based in New Zealand. He wanted to avoid a traditional full-on band-shot video so he went with snippets and flashes of the band performing in the studio edited with archival video footage of things in motion. Sonically, the band's music is all about forward motion and Charles wanted to capture that in the movement of the imagery. That vibe of being alive translates into all that forward motion, which is the only direction our lives really move. Some of the imagery is also very hazy and abstract just like our subconscious, which is living and breathing on its own yet is something we are not and cannot be totally aware of. 

Your debut album will be available in both digitally (streaming) and physically (CDs). In this day and age, how important is format?

Most of us in the band grew up buying CDs and cassettes back in the 90s, so it's still very important for us to produce a physical product for listeners and fans who want to support and own a piece of the band -- sonically and visually. Personally, it's very nostalgic for me to put out a release on CD even if it is a dying format in the age of streaming. Vinyl gets all the attention now but I have a soft spot for CDs and feel they are more practical to use for promoting music outside the internet.

That said, the main goal of most musicians is to get their music heard by as many people as possible and that's where streaming comes in. Spotify has 100 million users already so that number speaks for itself. So the bottom line is you need both the streaming side and a physical release medium of your preference. You adapt or you die just like everything in evolution.

Watch Olympia Maru's Sky Falling:

Olympia Maru's debut album, Sky Falling, will be streaming in full on Soundcloud starting Thursday, October 20. 

CDs will be available for sale at all Crazy Katsu branches around Metro Manila (Maginhawa QC, Taft Manila, BF Paranaque, Lilac St. Marikina) starting Thursday, October 20. 

CDs may also be purchased online and shipped to your doorstep via Olympia Maru's official Facebook page.

The album comes out on Spotify by the end of October 2016.