"How Are You So Certain" Is the Floridians Latest Indie-Pop Gem

It took only 30 minutes to write the song but a year to perfect it.

"Me and [David Gonzalez], our keyboardist, were in his studio bouncing ideas off of each other, and I was just playing a riff, and 30 minutes later, we had the entire song," shares Ian Renaud, lead singer and guitarist of the Floridians.

The Floridians normally take a DIY approach to the band's music: their Naranja EP and several singles were recorded at a home studio. But this time around, the members wanted a new set of ears to work on their next single.

The indie-pop track "How Are You So Certain," released today, has been performed by the band around venues in Miami and even had a demo recorded, but Renaud decided he wanted to put in some extra work, time, and funds to make the song a hit.

"We wanted to bring it to its max potential," Renaud says. A few months ago, the band approached New York-based producer Marc McClusky, bringing him on to help with the track. McClusky has worked with acts like Weezer, Bad Religion, Everclear, Sia, Motion City Soundtrack, and Ludo.

"This is the first time we had someone not in the band add parts to a song. He added that bridge, and we all fell in love with it. He wrote the instrumentation for that." Renaud shares. "We rewrote all the lyrics from when we were playing it live, so it's a version of the song that no one has heard before."
The result is a polished indie-pop gem featuring an earworm of a chorus and catchy synths that burrow into your head. "How Are You So Certain" also signals a new direction for the Floridians — less of the desert rock inspired by Allah-Las and a bit more psychedelic indie-rock similar to MGMT or Dayglow. "It's definitely sonically more in the direction we're taking," Renaud adds. "When you think of a breakup song, you think of these downtempo, sad piano-driven ballads. This is like an upbeat, wacky, fun song, but the lyrics are really sad — especially with David's wacky synth playing."

"The synth leads are the ones that stand out. In 'How Are You So Certain,' it sounds very wacky and wobbly; it's a sound you can't really miss even if you tried to," Gonzalez adds.

During the last few months, the Floridians have pumped the brakes a bit on playing shows around Miami, opting to focus on working on their music and outreach. However, for the few shows it's taking on, the band is making sure to make it count.

On January 19, the Floridians will celebrate the release of "How Are You So Certain" at Gramps alongside the Creature Cage and the Wax Worms. The band is especially excited for its March show, when it will open for Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew of the Talking Heads at Hollywood Arts Park.

"We really want to build our empire, work behind the scenes, and we don't want to oversaturate ourselves," Renaud explains. "We're really focused on putting out good music and good content for everyone out there."

The Floridians. With the Creature Cage and the Wax Worms. 8 p.m., Friday, January 19, at Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Miami; gramps.com. Tickets cost $10 to $15 at eventbrite.com.