Washington, DC-based quartet Dear Daria wears its love of ’90s pop culture proudly on its proverbial sleeve in their latest song and music video, “Tino.”
Inspired by a character in the iconic single season cult classic My So-Called Life, “Tino” is regularly referenced, but never shown.
“We all have that flakey friend who makes a lot of promises, but rarely delivers. That’s Tino,” says singer and guitarist Maryjo Mattea. “The idea may have come from a character in a TV show, but Tino is an archetype. Everyone has a ‘Tino’ in their life.”
Watch the official music video for “Tino” by Dear Daria on YouTube:
The video, directed by Mitchel Worley of mwfilms, follows the band in a comical Scooby Doo-esque race around town to say their goodbyes to the titular character before he moves away. Frantically running through a party thrown in his honor, the band desperately tries (and fails) to find the elusive Tino. The foursome even find themselves in beloved Fairfax vinyl shop, Mobius Records, where Tino supposedly gives the band the idea for their name as he pulls an old DVD box set of the MTV series Daria from a bargain bin.
“I love how we worked this bit of faux band lore into the story,” Mattea says.
“Tino” appears on Dear Daria’s latest EP, Solastalgia, released in January. Solastalgia is the six song follow-up to Dear Daria’s debut album, Can I Be Frank?
Dear Daria is composed of Washington, DC music veterans Maryjo Mattea, Joshua Hunter, Eamonn Donnelly, and Dan ABH. The band writes storyteller songs about angst, love, social commentary, mental health, and a longing for the world to be the kind of safe and accepting place we all wished we lived in. Their spirit is informed by a post-modern mosaic of cultural references. Musically, Dear Daria is a brightly-colored swirl of power pop, indie rock, alt-rock, and pop punk. Mattea says, “It’s like if Lennon and McCartney grew up in the ’90s.”
Catch Dear Daria live at Pearl Street Warehouse on Saturday, May 4!
