Wild Love bring varsity sports to fun-filled video for 'I Hate That I Need You'

Diverse new pop-rock outfit Wild Love have shared the energetic music video for their latest single, 'I Hate That I Need You', and it's as addictive as the track's melody.

The band is made up of Irish frontman Brandon Gorman, New York guitarist Michael Crecca and bassist Saygīn Geçener from Turkey - originally formed from a chance high school bus stop encounter in Virginia.

Bringing a little attitude back to pop music, the trio quickly made a name for themselves after moving to Nashville to play larger venues like Marathon Music Works, festivals like Live on the Green, and receiving support from Nashville’s largest independent radio station Lightning 100 across all their singles.

The rising act have taken their expressive rock sound and channeled it into hook-heavy pop songs for a new era of Wild Love.

‘I Hate That I Need You’ is all honesty and lyrical candour, steering their music into a brand new direction. The video was helmed by Nashville-based director Hannah Gray Hall, who also curated the band’s previous offerings 'They Call Me Kid’, ‘Bitter’ and ‘Tuesday Night’.

“Hannah’s the best to work with,” says Crecca. “She’s got such a great eye for shots, and is one of the most positive creatives I’ve ever worked with. And it’s just fun every time we do something with her, she’s a real pro.”

Just weeks before shooting the video, Hannah was in a motorcycle accident that kept her from holding a camera for quite some time.

“It was hard to see your friend and collaborator like that, not being able to do either of the things they loved,” Crecca adds. As soon she was cleared to hold a camera again, Wild Love returned to filming.

“We scheduled the video for the first week that she was able to hold a camera again (even if it was with one arm), and with less than 100% of Hannah physically there, she ran all around that track in the heat with us and delivered more than 110% of her talent, and honestly some of her best shots I’ve ever seen from her,” Crecca acknowledges.

"For this song, we started with this bizarre video idea of me being wheeled around the shop in a trolley, in a car seat, etc., all as a baby, and ended up with the slightly less bizarre but equally ridiculous idea of a relay race," frontman Brandon tells Hot Press.

"I’m a huge fan of those late '90s/early '00s rom-com and coming-of-age movies like She’s All That, 10 Thing I Hate About You, American Pie, and how they portray high school life," Gorman notes.

"These movies are caricatures of real life, but like, are more hyperbolised cliches that come out in these dumb, slapstick jokes that just work so well. Bands of that time like Sum 41, Wheatus, Blink 182 had such an identity that was embedded in the culture of high-school. Their music videos were never too serious and showed the humorous, youthful side to these bands. The feelings and energy portrayed by these movies and music videos is something that I’ve always really wanted to try."

The bright colours, the carefree and slapstick humour, cliques, unrealistic story, and the underdogs finding victory against all odds embodied the goal of Wild Love's cinematic vision.

The Varsity track team is played by Anna Lemme, Colton Woytas and Tim Coca - featuring a special cameo from director Hannah Gray Hall herself - and was shot at the Stratford High School track in the Inglewood neighbourhood of Nashville.

“We shot it on a black track in 100-degree weather, so we almost passed out from heat exhaustion and burnt our skin off all at once”, says Crecca. “On top of that, we had to hop the fence to get in, and I sliced open my leg jumping the fence and bled for like 20 minutes...you can catch a glimpse of me trying to clean myself up at the end of the credits.”

Throughout the pandemic, Wild Love finished and released their album They Called Me Kid, where they explored darker yet more professional sounds and songwriting, opening the door to their new catalogue and sound. The follow up to 2017's Where Do We Go From Here saw the release of huge singles 'Bitter' and 'Tuesday Night'.

With their pop punk attitude; the sonic and lyrical tone of Blur, The Vaccines and Franz Ferdinand and the sheen of modern pop acts; Wild Love's blend of indie-pop and pop-rock is deservedly getting them noticed.

Check out the athletics-themed video for 'Hate That I Need You' below: