PREMIERE | Ista, "Do What Feels Right"

Presenting Brooklyn’s own…Ista; press photo courtesy of Patrick Weinell.

The elusive apparition of self-actualization is a strange specter that is in short supply. From rituals of the past to methodologies of the modern; all of these and so much more bring a promise of fulfillment to arrive in the moment or perhaps at a latter date. We are looking for a way to feel like ourselves, to emulate our best selves, to live and speak our proverbial truths and live our best lives. All of this is super fine and dandy for the social media fodder found across the interwebs, yet the practice and application of it in real life as something more than just superficially flexing for the algorithms of machine learned programing. It is a matter of knowing, a matter of being, a matter of claiming and cashing in on that sense of credibility in a manner that is genuine and sincere. Our existence is something more than simply the accumulation or evocation of a reductionist hashtag or a staged photo or video amid the backdrop of some exotic or luxurious locale. We are sentient, sentimental and sensitive people at our very core that instinctively on some latent level understand that life is too fleeting and temporal to deceive our better instincts and live some lie of projected false prosperity. If the fragility of our globe has taught us anything, it is to truly be our best selves…truthfully.

Artfully adhering to this ethos is Brooklyn’s own Ista who readies their debut self-titled with a first listen and look at the raucous single “Do What Feels Right”. The talents of Rex Costello, Oliver Hart, Diona West, Theadora Curtis, Evan Eubanks under the creative auspices of producer Sam Cohen kick out a collection of jams that were initially curtailed by the pandemic that rip, roar and rollick with a high flying fancy free ferocity. Costello and the crew cultivate a feverishly analogue artform that recollects the dive bar deities that have traversed through NYC over the course of the past 50 plus years. Somewhere between the grandiosity of big concept performance pieces to the grit of Max’s Kansas City and overly mythologized venues whose initials are repressed on screen printed tees readily available online and in big chain stores everywhere — Ista establishes themselves as a rock act that stands between the analogous and immortalized pop figures from yesterday’s magazines and the present and future phenoms that are setting the stages with a new twist on the free to be you and me notions of unbridled autonomy.

"Do What Feels Right" casts those attitudes of the early aughts, the swagger of the 70s and every cult underappreciated underachiever of great promise into an electric blender. It is the sound of crawling out of the quarantined spaces of the pandemic and seeking an alleviated fix in the face of the world's rampant ills. Ista edifies the spirit of finding out who you are, what you want to be, what you want to do, what you want to do with your life and if you can't sort that much out — at least figure out what you want to do in the interim. Ista uplifts the importance of seizing the moment, taking the reins of the day like a wide eyed wanderer on the prairie looking to lasso in that mythic wild mare running free about in the great wide open. It’s about doing the right thing, finding that correct path, being the captain of your own ship, the cartographer of your own world map and the navigator of your own designated destiny.

The visuals borrow wildly from some 60s sort of shindig, like a vintage episode of Laugh-In or throwback psychedelia flair. From pep rally rah rah with a dash of classic yé-yé energy, Ista goes from bandstand performance art to full on embracing the full on psychotropic strange. The vibes jumps from the illustrious showcase mainstage, dabbling in stop-motion styles to full on animal evolutions as the message of doing what feels right is actualized in an assembly of inspired presentations. Ista evokes the very pinnacle of pop art prestige, delivering big on spectacle that matches the tour de force of their sound that is relentless, gleefully rowdy, rocking, rolling and full on rallying. The exuberant NYC band in sound and visual uplifts the ethos and ideas that revolve around the unbearable eccentricity and actualization of being.

The aura and aesthetics of Ista; press photo courtesy of Patrick Weinell.

ISTA provided some insights on the track and visuals for “Do What Feels Right”:

Though the shoot itself was only two days long, it took around a month to create the treatment and assemble the team for the video. We hooked up with our friend Miranda Khan (Mirmade Productions) who joined as executive producer and helped to bring together a completely epic crew who could bring our vision to life. As for the concept, my only goal was to create a visual experience for the song that would be energetic, funny and a bit psychedelic.

Insights from Ista; press photo courtesy of Patrick Weinell.

I was experimenting with some video to video AI programs around the same time which is where the Claymation overlay freak-out guitar solo section comes into play. In early 2023, the whole video was originally intended to be a stop-motion Claymation video which our friend Josh Bruce had been working on, though he tragically passed early in the project’s production. After discovering the AI Claymation overlay, we thought it would be a sweet way to honor his memory by integrating it into a section of the video. Even through scheduling mishaps, down to the wire decisions and key folks dropping off the project at crucial junctures; the team who came together for it was like a family and by the end of it all, to say the least, the whole production was an absolute blast to create.

ISTA’s self-titled LP will be available September 29 via istasound.com

Catch the group at TV Eye in Brooklyn, NY on November 20 with Tea Eater featuring members of GUSTAF), Grim Streaker & Romi (from Ghostfunk Orchestra & Powersnap fame).