A talented songwriter who has been refining his craft for nearly forty years, Travis Charles Hagan began the Painter Fingers project in 2020, using it as a way to explore new sounds and creative whims with ease. After releasing his debut single ‘Working For Ghosts’ amidst the global pandemic, Travis has continued to evolve his style, crafting a string of impressive indie-tinged releases that explore themes of isolation, anxiety, healing, fatherhood, and more.
Throughout the evolution of the project, Travis has continued to write, record, and refine his songs, and so it’s only fitting, that his latest single has its roots from almost twenty years prior. Originally written in 2005, ‘Same Side’ was one of a few songs that Travis rediscovered after his brother gifted him a thumb drive of early versions and rustic recordings.
The first of these songs to be resurrected, ‘Same Side’ is a Brit-pop laced track that speaks of unity and support, spreading the idea that we all share the same space, and can find strength in our common threads. Speaking about the song when we spoke with him, Travis explained, “’Same Side’ is about realising that we are all sharing the same Earth, and regardless of where we stand upon it, we all endure many of the same struggles. Even as world leaders declare war between nations, regular people who don’t get to make those decisions usually have a lot more in common than we think.
He continued on his Facebook page, “I wrote this back in 2005. We were just over 3 years removed from the 9/11 tragedy, and I was feeling disillusioned with American leadership and their handling of it, as though the solution to needless violence was more of the same. Though it is now nearly two decades old, I believe the message is still relevant today. This is the first of what I hope to be many remakes of old songs I wrote that never saw the light of day in their original form.”
You can stream ‘Same Side’ above via Spotify, or head on over to our annual Spotify playlist where it’s streaming alongside a string of other great releases from the year so far. For more from Travis and his Painter Fingers project, be sure to connect with him via his Bandcamp page and social media links below.
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