Video Premiere + Interview: Telethon – “Youdon’tinspiremelikeyouusedto”

Posted: by The Editor

“Youdon’tinspiremelikeyouusedto” is the newest high-energy single from Telethon, Midwest connoisseurs of heavy upbeat summer-infused pop. The video is almost completely fan-made, as people from all over use the lyrics to tell their own story. From boats to bathrooms, FaceTime and front doors, everyone involved is so into what they’re doing and it shows. Check out the new video below:

I talked to Kevin Tully from Telethon about the single, video, the possibility of touring, and of course, Blaze Pizza.


The Alternative: Tell me where the inspiration for the “youdon’tinspiremelikeyouusedto” single came from.

The “you” in the song is about the person speaking. It’s like kind of telling myself, “Hey, wake up, you don’t inspire me like you used to”. So it’s kind of like an allegory in thought. So on top of a lot of other things, it’s kind of me telling myself to become a better version of myself. Even though I’m mostly using these songs on Hard Pop as pep talks to myself, I’m pretty much inspired by the community of friends that we’ve made, on the internet and through Telethon.

Where did you get the ideas to get fans involved for the music video? I love that idea!

It kind of all came together really quickly. The first thing you need to know is that Telethon is geographically dispersed. Two of us are in Chicago, two of us are in Milwaukee, and one of us is in St. Paul, and I had this whole script written out and we have such a limited time together, so we legitimely ran out of time. Suddenly our guitarist Jack had the idea to do the classic “lyrics written out” video, and I thought “why don’t we get our social media following to do it?” and get the community involved. And everybody did so good! And it ended up way cooler than my vision would’ve been.

Is there a song on Hard Pop you’re the most excited for fans to hear?

Yeah, the first one. We’re all most stoked about that song, maybe because it’s the opener and it builds and builds. Every single song we’re excited for people to hear, but that first song is the one we’re most excited for.

How would you describe your record? I think it may just be my Happiness Hours of 2019, the summertime banger.

Love that! You’re not the first person to say that it feels like a summer record, I don’t know how we always do that, put out records that feel like summer when they’re really about some of the darkest moments. I think it’s the most album-y album we’ve had. I would describe it like a mix of everything we’ve done on the last three albums. Like it takes everything we’ve learned and put it here.

Anything on the horizon on the tour front?

Yeah, we’re playing a couple shows in Milwaukee and Chicago in the next couple months, and we are trying to hammer down details for a tour in late summer. We’re also playing Fest in Gainesville!

What’s something your Blaze Pizza must always have?

It’s the same thing, because I’m a man of routine. Here’s my order: regular mound of the red sauce and hot n spicy, a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, if they have it, turkey meatballs or chicken, plus ham. You have to tear it up instead of the circles of ham. Green pepper, spinach, a pinch of sea salt and oregano, and when it’s done i have them do the bbq sauce drizzle over it and I usually take a parmesan shaker and put more on it. For the fountain drink, I get the diet coke with a little bit of root beer. The Kevin Tully Special!


Follow Telethon on Social Media:
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Kayla Carmichael | @kaylacarmicheal


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