The mystery of The Myrrors and their surprise viral hit ‘Warpainting’
Who is to say what will and won’t become a hit? If you could bottle up what Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter and Metallica all seem to possess, you would be a millionaire. But alas, the much sought-after classic remains as elusive as ever.
The Myrrors have been on the positive end of the strange nature of a hit song. Without any kind of PR, formal management or marketing budget, their track ‘Warpainting’ became a viral hit long before viral hits were even a thing. No, there was no accompanying dance move or trend attached to it, just great music, active listeners, and the power of the internet.
The band originally formed in 2005 when Grant Beyschau and Nik Rayne met and realised they had the same taste in music. Still in school, the two would hang out to talk about the songs they were listening to and jam. After twiddling with the remaining line-up of the band a couple of times, two years later, they were ready to record their debut album. All done in Rayne’s bedroom, they put together the psychedelic and layered cult classic that is Burning Circles in the Sky.
“We only had a few mics and a pretty basic recording programme,” recalled Beyschau, “We did all the mixing and producing on our own, with basically no experience. We were only 16 and 17 years old at the time! We really did the whole thing ourselves, which is kind of cool, you know? We all really dig DIY stuff.”
That DIY sound was something that the band were incredibly proud of, but it didn’t result in record sales. After only printing about 50 different CDs of their debut album and playing to tiny rooms, the band were well aware that they were likely to fade into obscurity, and that’s something they were fine with. They were all still young, making music with their friends and hitting the road to play to crowds of strangers. When you’re doing that, embodying your heroes and living a life of excitement, record sales don’t really matter.
That being said, despite the album hardly selling any copies, a digital version of their track ‘Warpainting’ found its way onto YouTube and started to gain traction. The band hadn’t uploaded it themselves; it had been put there by a fellow listener, and fans of the psychedelic and layered style that The Myrrors were championing quickly latched onto the exciting track.
Beyschau was once asked about the cult classic status his song was gaining, and confirmed he was pleasantly surprised by it. “It’s really cool to see. When we were playing shows around Phoenix, the audience was often pretty small. We didn’t really get much recognition at the time, and we certainly didn’t make any money in the process.”
However, he was adamant about the fact that it had been exciting enough and that the journey was worth it, noting, “That’s not to say we didn’t have fun doing it. I personally had more fun than ever, making music and playing shows. In 2008 we all graduated from high school and kind of went our separate ways, and I kind of lost track of all The Myrrors related stuff. In 2010 I happened upon the YouTube videos of our songs and saw that a few people had made music videos and ‘Warpainting’ had some 200,000 views. I was amazed. I thought we were destined for obscurity, and to find out that people actually like the music that you make is a nice feeling.”
This interview was conducted in 2013, and since then, the track has now racked up over six million views on YouTube and is one adored by people around the world, as its cinematic nature paints the perfect backdrop for the devastation of war (quite literally a ‘Warpainting’).
There is a strange degree of comfort to take away from the success of The Myrrors’ song, that in a world where it seems as though the biggest budget wins, good music can still find a way through the cracks every now and then. ‘Warpainting’ wasn’t set up to be a success, and yet it found notoriety through the power of its quality alone. There is no formula for making a hit, but a great song should always be the starting point.
