May Fall Explains His “Plan D” Single
Few musical creatives in this world refuse to let anything stand in the way of their artistic vision—but May Fall undoubtedly is one of them. The wickedly talented Israeli-born May Fall strives to craft music authentic to his experiences and perspective—resulting in clever, lively, and resonant music—laced with delicious twists of darkness. Dazzled by the sounds of 70’s and 80’s pop and rock, inspired to become a rock star watching his favorite 90’s Wave stars hit the big screen on MTV, May Fall jumped headfirst into the musical world, showing off his talents in his longtime progressive metal band Road to Evenmind and jazz-fusion trio The May Fall Crew. Drawing on years of experience and a passion for synth-driven melodies May Fall consistently delivers a sound that is sincerely reflective and irresistibly groovy, doused in a fresh edge that never fails to enchant his listeners. Having recently moved to France, May Fall is more laser-focused than ever on his artistry, working tirelessly to connect with dedicated fans and new audiences alike and craft innovative tracks that are as existential as they are exciting, delivering a perfect synthesis of introspection and energy that pushes the boundaries of the indie pop genre while staying true to his signature sound and stories.
Defeat and failure are essential to life—they push people to reevaluate their choices and adapt to change. But what happens when things never go according to plan? May Fall might know a thing or two as he takes listeners through the winding, grueling stages of losing hope from the first setback to the final straw. Without listening to the lyrics, one might mistakenly consider the song upbeat—even joyful—brimming with infectious synths that would fit perfectly in a retro or contemporary disco. But there is no need to worry; though this masterpiece isn’t joyful, it doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. May Fall takes this opportunity to showcase his prowess as a songwriter, impressively blending wit and humor into an existential narrative that explores what happens when one feels like they’ve run out of options. When plans A, B, and C fail – there’s only one way out – Plan D (E-A-T-H). With this release, May Fall captivates and reaches new artistic heights, delivering what is undeniably his most compelling songcraft yet. This track exemplifies May Fall’s talent for crafting tracks with the perfect balance and emotional depth blend, solidifying his place as a fearless, brilliant voice in synth-driven music.
Following a successful collaborative effort on the captivating “Sleep” music video released earlier this year, May Fall rejoins forces with Greece-based director Thanos Kallianiotis, who courageously takes on the role of master manipulator for the “Plan D” music video. Despite facing numerous challenges in the planning and production process, including a period of mandatory emergency reserve duty, May Fall possessed an ironclad will to bring his unique, precise vision to life exactly as he had imagined. Therefore, this duo turned to “out of the box” alternatives—utilizing creative experimentation and technical prowess to direct and shoot original footage and then manipulate it with cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies. These technologies are so fresh that this team is practically forging a new path in the music world—daring to push the limits of visual artistry in the musical arena. Resourcefully adapting to far less than ideal conditions May Fall managed to shoot footage of himself single-handedly using his cell phone —sometimes in unexpected locations—all to provide an ideal foundation to build the scenes and story on the computer. The result is a mesmerizing visual that exquisitely matches the ominous, urgent tone of the song, evoking a sense of dissociation and panic. As the pinnacle of May Fall’s work thus far, it’s a thrilling look into the boundless nature of May Fall’s artistry, cementing his place as a visionary talent with much more on the horizon.
In what ways do you resonate with the story told in “Plan D?” Is the concept rooted in a personal experience or memory?
“Plan D” is a personal story and also a universal one. It’s a blueprint of a downhill life path that every person can find themselves in. It starts with Plan A when you try to make your dream come true, then you most likely fail and switch to Plan B, which is a more realistic alternative. Then things may go wrong in unexpected ways, which may force you into Plan C where you’re in a sort of survival mode. Then, when you’re on the edge, it might take another push or a few ones to make you lose all hope, and resort to Plan D that ends it all. The concept comes from a theory I came up with, that every person, when pushed to a dark enough place, whether it is through despair, shame, guilt or anger, is capable of killing themselves or someone else. The Plan A to Plan D path is very simplified of course, people can jump back and forth between these stages, and change their perspective regarding their situations and aspirations. But as a general idea, I believe that many people would be able to relate to it. On the personal level, quite a few years ago I went from Plan A to Plan B, gave up my dream to become a rockstar, and started a career in law practice, which was kind of a life crisis I’m not sure I ever fully recovered from. At times I felt I was on my way to Plan C, and had the vision of Plan D waiting for me down the road. I’m not there yet, but knowing it’s there definitely affects my perspective and inspires my writing. That’s what “Plan D” is all about.
During your production process, was there a specific sound you were hoping to achieve? What distinctive elements did you incorporate into this song?
Sound-wise I generally aim to achieve something that mixes the vintage with the contemporary. It will probably be no surprise that I’m a big fan of the 80’s synth-centered music, so you can find traces of Duran Duran, The Human League, Nik Kershaw, Depeche Mode, and others. I love these warm, punchy, analog synth landscapes. Like in a few of my other songs, you will find in “Plan D” the fat funky synth bassline, brassy poly synth stabs, and the underlying Nick Rhodes-esque synth arpeggiator. In the drums section, you have a slap-to-the-face sounding snare that reminds me a bit of Fine Young Cannibals’ “She Drives Me Crazy” and congas like in Spandau Ballet’s “Gold”. These vintage vibes are interfered with in the Plan C part where I mess with a bunch of samples and synth tweaking to create an alarming feeling, and then in the chorus, it’s back to straightforward funky vibes.
What makes “Plan D” stand apart from other songs in the alternative/indie genre?
I think that the song’s theme is what makes it stand apart the most. I don’t recall ever listening to a song that explores the path of one’s decline from their dream plan to ultimate despair, surely not in such an analytic, structured fashion. While the music video tells a specific story that is very inspired by my own, the song itself deliberately avoids referring to specific manifestations of each plan, which keeps it applicable to each listener and their own plans A, B and C. Eventually, in plan D, we all end up in the same place.
What motivated you and your director Thanos Kallianiotis to utilize artificial intelligence technologies to put together the “Plan D” music video? Did you face any challenges or surprises in your production process?
Interestingly, I had the general storyline of “Plan D” in my mind long before I knew how it would be brought to life. At first, I thought this would be a great animation video and I started working with the very talented animator Tal Friedlander, who helped me develop the concept and storyline. However, it didn’t work out and I got to the conclusion that this music video needs to be based on real footage. It tells my personal story so I should be in it in the flesh. Around that time I met the awesome videographer Thanos Kallianiotis. We first produced the “Sleep” music video, with the plan of making “Plan D” shortly afterward. The more we discussed it we realized how complicated it’s going to be to shoot. It would require a full week of shooting in various locations and a complex pre production. Then, shortly after I released “Determinist”, the first single from my upcoming EP, came the horrendous October 7, 2023 terror attack and I was called to emergency duty for an indefinite time. It took me a few months to realize that under these circumstances we’re not going to shoot any video shortly. The AI revolution was evolving fast at the same time, and I learned that this technology can be utilized to make amazing music videos without requiring elaborate productions. I was led to the inevitable conclusion that the only way this music video is going to happen in these extreme circumstances is by taking advantage of this technology. By coincidence, it turned out that Thanos was experimenting with this technology himself in his art, so we decided to take a leap of faith and try producing a video in a way that neither of us had prior experience in. We already had the storyline, but we needed basic footage of me in each scene to work on, so in a true guerilla fashion I took shots of myself with my mobile phone singing in various locations, including while I was in duty, improvising location sets, outfits, and props. I sent the footage to Thanos, and then he worked his magic. He developed his unique workflow, editing the footage and manipulating it with various AI and non-AI tools, until he got to this crazy music video that exceeded my expectations and perfectly matched the song, bringing the story to life in a wonderfully brutal way.
How do the visuals in the “Plan D” music video reflect the unique style and flair of your musical identity?
The visuals in the music video express my musical identity by taking you through my journey, in particular through the earlier years when I hustled my way trying to make my dream to become a successful music artist come true. The first Plan A gig scene and the second verse in the record label office pay homage to my days with my band Rotev, which later became Road to Evenmind. We went through all that, the gigs, the album recording, getting refusals from record labels, so this is something that resonates with me on the deepest level. It feels like some kind of closure, putting my past failures out there, taking pride in them, and empowering other people that went or are going through the same process.
How important is it for you as an artist to share music that feels authentic? In what ways does this song showcase your drive for authenticity in your music?
I don’t think that authenticity is my main objective in my music, but it’s the result of my choosing to use my music to express things I authentically feel and think. I always write about the things that occupy me and trigger me the most, and these topics change throughout my life’s journey. A few years ago, I was really bothered by culture and religion-based conflicts, and how peoples’ views are easily manipulated by fake news and biased media (which bothers me these days too), so I wrote “Blind Zone” and “Same Code”. In recent years I became more focused on my own psychological and philosophical perceptions which sometimes take me to dark places, and that is what I felt compelled to express in my more recent writing. That’s the thread that ties all the songs in my new EP “Submerge” together. I think it should be very strongly felt in “Plan D”, which very authentically exposes my internal experience, pretty much putting my brain on a platter for everyone to see.
How do you feel now that the song and music video are released?
I feel mostly relieved. I never release new music according to the original schedule. I always find excuses to delay the release, but the late release of this one is not only my procrastination. The release of “Plan D”, as the last single in the new EP, was tied to the release date of the EP itself, so there was a lot at stake. The previous singles “Determinist”, “Sleep” and “Under Cover” were intended to build up toward this, but with everything that happened during the last year, I was forced to delay the EP release when the first singles were already out which I feared would impact the momentum that started to pile up. However, thanks to Thanos who managed to complete this incredible video lightning-fast after many sleepless nights, I got everything ready for release last December, which allowed me to release the EP in 2024 like I originally intended so I’m pretty happy it worked out.
How does “Plan D” reflect your musical direction and aspirations in the future? What projects do you hope to work on next?
I don’t have an idea at this stage how the next May Fall release will sound like and whether it will be anything like “Plan D”. Most likely I would want to try something new, and reinvent myself somehow, but I think that no matter how far I’ll try to go there’s an underlying signature style deeply embedded in my musical DNA that I’ll never be able to change. For sure, the new May Fall release will be packed with tons of synths, funky beats, and themes that unapologetically explore the dark side of humanity. But before that, I have a lot of unreleased music for Road to Evenmind and The May Fall Crew that has been sitting aside patiently for too long, so I would probably want to do something about it first.
Follow May Fall
https://www.youtube.com/
https://facebook.com/
https://twitter.com/
https://www.instagram.com/
https://tiktok.com/
About the Author
Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.
Related Posts
M. Spano Speaks on Why This Hit’s Been a “Long Time Comin'” →
Ian Ward Talks About His “One Shot” →
Ben Bacardi: Rapper With A New York Soul →
