Melding soaring pop-rock sensibility with the organic nature of acoustic folk music, Ryanhood are a duo that has been influenced by the world that they’ve uniquely lived through touring together as both artists and human beings for the 14 years that they have been a band. As their music has developed throughout the years, Ryan Green and Cameron Hood have grown as much as incredibly talented instrumentalists and composers as they have lyricists and interpreters.
From off of 2017’s Yearbook, ‘Is This the Time of Our Lives?’ is exemplary of this, dealing with the bittersweet human complexities that underlie the vast majority of their music. The accompanying video that For Folk’s Sake is proud to premiere underscores this point even further.
Shot entirely on 8mm film, and directed by Alex Italics (who’s also done several videos for They Might Be Giants) ‘Is This The Time Of Our Lives?’ looks at our troubled modern relationship with the passing of time, brought to life by a complex percussion section played on a hand-drum called the cajón.
“Harmonically, I was secretly inspired by The Beatles’ Penny Lane on this song,” says Green. “It changes keys (or modulates) in every chorus, except the last one, which stands out by virtue of the fact that it simply stays put.” Fun fact: for the song’s final chorus, fans from around the country sent in recordings of themselves singing, which were blended together into the choir heard at the end of the song.
Words by: Jonathan Frahm