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We had to chuckle yesterday when we heard Micah Vellian‘s remix of “Equestrian” by D.C. pop-rockers U.S. Royalty. Vellian (one-third of Volta Bureau) didn’t try to scale back the unreformed haughtiness of the original; instead he candies the song’s hooks with a dance-pop beat. We asked him about his artistic choices. His reply:
U.S. Royalty commissioned [Volta Bureau member] Will Eastman to do a remix, way before the initial release, and Will deferred it to me. … As far as aesthetics, I really wanted to retain the structure of the original song and just make it slightly more club-friendly and more dramatic. The drama was already there, I just wanted to increase it a bit. Since I’m partial to using a lot of strings, I felt I could use them specifically for that purpose. The original is slightly more moody and when I heard the chorus, it was really anthemic and I just wanted to exploit that energy for the remix.
So there ya have it: He rolled with what he was given. We still think somebody should do a witch house version, though. Listen to his handiwork below.
Equestrian (Micah Vellian Remix) by usroyalty
The original, from U.S. Royalty’s album Mirrors:
Micah Vellian DJs with Volta Bureau, Jay Simon, Chris Nitti, and Lxsx Frxnk at 10 p.m. Saturday at the U Street Music Hall, 1115A U St. NW. $10.