Rossonian's Tiny Desk Contest Entry Almost Won

NPR's Tiny Desk Contest just finished its second year, and once again a Colorado band did not win. However, there were more than a hundred entries from our talented state, and out of those, a single video caught the attention of Bob Boilen and company: Rossonian's "Love in a Wasteland." 

"I knew I wanted to do that song, and I was trying to brainstorm spots that would be cool, 'cause it's not super-interesting watching dudes stare at their keyboards," lead singer Seth Evans said of the industrial concept.

The video was shot near the roof of a giant industrial building that's been turned into studio spaces, where Rossonian practices. The bandmembers had tried to get up to the roof before, so that knew that little corner existed and thought it was perfect — except for the giant mechanisms used to power a freight elevator in the middle.

"I wasn't sure if we were going to get electrocuted or something," Evans says. "It worked, I think. It was pretty fun."

The entry (which you can watch below) did work, enough to be featured on the curated Tiny Desk Contest Tumblr account and featured in the "10 More Tiny Desk Contest Entries We Love" post that went up on NPR yesterday. 

"Everything about lead singer Seth Evans' pants is superlative," NPR stated in the post. "The band's cosmic R&B is delightfully strange." 

"I've been wanting to have our music on the show. I've always wanted to have some of our music on there, and it's really exciting," says Evans, who woke up to just that while working in L.A. this week. 

The video deserves multiple viewings. Tiny Desk entries can be so static, lacking in any visual element that makes the performance deserve your eyes as well as your ears. But Rossonian's creativity resulted in an entry that's as beautiful to watch as it is to listen to.