Benjamin Francis Leftwich reveals new video for 'Mayflies' - premiere

Mayflies f**k and they die. Everything is so wrong yet so perfect

Benjamin Francis Leftwich (Press image)

Benjamin Francis Leftwich has revealed the video for his new single 'Mayflies' from second album After The Rain.

Leftwich says of the video: “It’s the snapshot of a night where everyone is caught up in the present, living their own adventures unbeknown the world is ending. The idea was to capture the feeling of exhilaration and hope for the future that we all sense in the moment, contrasted with the reality check of dawn.

"Mayflies f**k and they die. Everything is so wrong yet so perfect.“

Watch the video and let us know what you think:

Q&A with Benjamin Francis Leftwich

What are you listening to at the moment?

At the moment I'm loving the latest Chance The Rapper mixtape and the new Radiohead. I’ve been listening to them a lot. I’ve also been loving an old school female Lebanese singer called Fairuz and I still have Real Friends by Kanye on repeat. I’m really into the Memoirs Of A Geisha soundtrack too, I fall asleep to that most nights.

What are your plans for summer 2016?

This summer I'm touring in the USA & Canada, and I have some foreign festival shows including Shanghai, Madrid, Noway and Moseley Folk festival on my birthday in September.

Where did the idea for the video come about?

The idea was to capture the feeling of exhilaration and hope for the future that we all sense in the moment, contrasted with the reality check of dawn. I think with the vibrancy of the colours and the mood in the video Jake, the director, and I managed to create something that really represents the energies in the song.

First gig, best gig?

I think the first ever gig I played was at a school concert to raise money for Amnesty when i was around 14 years old. I was in a band at school with my friends and it was our first show. I remember being very nervous. We loved Placebo and Smashing Pumpkins so we were kind of an emo rock thing.

So many gigs are amazing for different reasons but I think one that always stands out is walking on stage at Glastonbury. It was the first time I’d played in front of more than a few hundred people and I remember thinking wow this is mad. It’s hard to tell how a gig is going to be before you play it you know.

Another one of my favourite shows ever was in a dive bar on an industrial estate in Detroit, there was probably only 20 people there but the energy was so good, so yeah that stands out too as a favourite in a totally different way.