American Ink Deliver Feel-Good Vibes with Their “If You Wanna” Video Premiere

There’s something both retro and reassuring about the music of American Ink. Today, the trio unveils their brand new music video for “If You Wanna,” from their new record What I See, What People See.

Both the video and song are overflowing with energy, reminiscent of the more popular pop-punk acts of the 2000s. In addition, there is an abundance of feel-good vibes at work here, one of those crowd-pleasing tracks that has the whole audience singing along in unison. The video is a no-muss, no-fuss kind of affair, just three great friends doing what they love, playing their hearts out.

Taking us behind the scenes of the shooting process, American Ink drummer Nick Fauza tells us:

“The plan that we had to shoot this music video for ‘If You Wanna’ was extremely rough for a few months. It was one of those things we loved the idea of, but didn’t think would end up getting done with how busy we were with shows this summer. But, what matters is we got in that video studio with a plan, and banged out all the shots in just five and a half hours. Lots and lots of re-takes playing the same thing, and to say we were winded would’ve been an understatement. It was 100 degrees in that visual sound stage room. Shooting the video was one of our most fun projects though, and we couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out.”

Joining Fauza in American Ink is guitarist Michael Romano and bassist Aidan Crotty. Based in Boston, they like to think of their music as being trendy yet nostalgic. They unveiled themselves with their 2018 debut EP, Hand-Drawn Hearts, and then quickly followed it up with 2019’s Please Forget You Knew My Name. By 2021, they had released Up Next On… and, by this point, had really pinned down their sound. What that sound has become is a combination of hardcore punk with acoustic-driven moments and honest, relatable lyrics.

What I See, What People See is a further expansion of American Ink’s sound. The riffs are more slicing, the drums are more intense, and the vocals are more catchy. They write songs on their own terms, unconcerned with genres or classifications. It’s essentially a “if it feels good, do it” approach. It’s not steered them wrong thus far; a band with a lot of potential just now really coming into its own.

What I See, What People See Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Pedestrians
3. Name Tag
4. Wishing
5. Racing Head
6. Underwater
7. Blacklight
8. Synecdoche
9. Hanging On
10. Nosferatu
11. If You Wanna
12. Anhedonia
13. Lucy Interlude
14. Lucy
15. Miles

American Ink ‘What I See, What People See’ album artwork