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Film Features Film/TV

Music Video Monday: “Let Go of the Let Down” by Jeff Hulett

Longtime friend of Music Video Monday Jeff Hulett has a new album coming out on November 15, when Little Windows is getting a vinyl release with a party at the Cove.

For the first music video from the album, “Let Go of the Let Down,” Hulett tapped Jake Vest. “He’s made quite a few videos for me at this point, but I feel like this one really captures the vibe of what this song is all about. ‘Let Go of The Let Down’ is a mantra, something to quest after, something to strive for. What it means is anybody’s guess, but it’s a good thing at its core and when you feel it, you’ll know it.”

If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Music Video Monday: “Local News” by Jeff Hulett

Local news is what we do here at the Memphis Flyer. Our local news is mostly about fun stuff, with some very unfun stuff thrown in here and there so we can continue to call ourselves “news.”

That’s a joke, of course. News can be good, bad, indifferent, or ambiguous, because it’s just stuff that happens in life. But some folks have to dress it up and spin it in an attempt to attract more clicks or better ratings. Hey, I get it. It’s hard out there for a content pimp. But constantly harping on the bad stuff, while good for attracting those sweet, sweet anxiety clicks, can make for very unpleasant viewing.

Memphis musician and friend of Music Video Monday Jeff Hulett takes on the needy fearmongering with “Local News” from his 2022 album Note To Self. With an assist from Jake Vest, Hulett takes us on a nightmare tour of local happenings, with giant cave dogs and the walking dead. Looks like a slow news day to me.

If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: “Belong” by Jeff Hulett

Jeff Hulett is dropping his new album, What I Mean, this week. On Saturday, December 18th, at 4 p.m., Hulett will premiere the new album at his record release party at Memphis Made Brewing Company on Cooper.

The first music video from the new album, “Belong” was created by Jake Vest, the Memphis ex-pat musician and producer. The images reflect the song’s mixture of anxious, spoken-word lyrics and soaring melodies of hope. Take a look!

If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Music Video Monday: Swimware

Music Video Monday is lost is cyberspace!

Swimware are an instrumental band consisting of Jake Vest, Greg Faison, and Alex Pilkington. You might be familiar with them from some of their previous work with Tiger High, The Bulletproof Vests, Dream Team, and as collaborators with the late Clay Otis. The friends have always been musical chameleons, and this iteration sees them exploring the synth-heavy sounds of the ’80s.

MVM is bringing you a double-shot of Swimwear with two super-fun videos by the band and versatile Memphis artist St. Francis Elevator Ride. The first is called “Dial Up,” which, for the youngs out there, is how we used to get our interwebs on. Creating this high-flying video involved “Two solid months of rotoscoping out the flight cables and harnesses,” says St. Francis Elevator Ride. “It has a bit of a modern day Three Stooges / Duck Soup thing going on.”

Second is a clip for “The Net 2.0.” “Yup that’a a direct reference to the Sandra Bullock, Carl Reiner adored, cyberterrorist classic,” says St. Francis Elevator Ride. Log on now!

If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.

Categories
Music Music Blog

Weekend Roundup 31: Naan Violence, Rob Thomas, Belle and Sebastian

Belle and Sebastian play Minglewood Hall on Sunday, August 30th.

Welcome to the 31st edition of my Weekend Roundup. Saturday is jam packed with shows, starting with Sweat Fest at Shangri-La, and indie-pop stars Belle and Sebastian play Minglewood Hall this Sunday, making for a well rounded weekend of rock-n-roll. Rob Thomas also performs at the Botanical Garden after rescheduling his concert earlier this summer. 

Friday, August 28th.

Live it up Fest with CCDE, 5 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $15.

Jake Vest and the Dream Team, Naan Violence, 10 p.m. at Bar DKDC, $5.

Weekend Roundup 31: Naan Violence, Rob Thomas, Belle and Sebastian

Saturday, August 29th.

Sweatfest, 2 p.m. at Shangri-La Records.

Aquarian Blood,Nervs, Ten High, 9 pm. at The Buccaneer, $5.

Weekend Roundup 31: Naan Violence, Rob Thomas, Belle and Sebastian (2)

Rock Eupora, The Red Thangs, Movie Night, & Monticello 9 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $6.

Rob Thomas, 7 p.m. at the Botanical Garden, prices vary.

Weekend Roundup 31: Naan Violence, Rob Thomas, Belle and Sebastian (3)

Marcella and her Lovers, 10 p.m. at Bar DKDC, $5.

Generation Jug Band Rascals, 10 p.m. at The Cove, $5.

Sunday, August 30th

Belle and Sebastian, Bully, 8 p.m. at Minglewood Hall, $32-$35.

Weekend Roundup 31: Naan Violence, Rob Thomas, Belle and Sebastian (4)

Shame Finger, Banned Anthem, Rebuilder, 9 p.m. at Murphy’s, $5.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Clay Otis and the Dream Shieks

Memphis musical chameleon Clay Otis gets serious on this week’s Music Video Monday. 

Ever record Otis releases is an exploration of a different corner of pop, R&B, and rock history. He can croon love songs and spit out soul shouts with equal aplomb. In this video for “Moral Untold” from last year’s album Citizen Clay, which he directed under his given name Clay Hardee, he combines compelling archival footage of armed conflict with footage of the band in the studio and some trippy transparencies. The best part is the unreal footage Otis uncovered of a young girl standing up to, the in the words of the song, “Big, big men with big, big guns”.   The video was shot by Chris Owen and edited by frequent Otis collaborator Jake Vest. 

Music Video Monday: Clay Otis and the Dream Shieks

If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email a link to cmccoy@memphisflyer.com

Categories
Music Music Features

Tiger High: Inside the Acid Coven

Greg Roberson is many things: drummer, label owner, radio personality, scarf-wearer, producer, and self-starter. To that last point, when Tiger High — his band with brothers Jake and Toby Vest — finished their new album, Inside the Acid Coven, I contacted them about an interview. As my sleep patterns are a perfect negative to those of the band, we settled on email. When Roberson sent back the answers, he added several questions to the list. Whether this is OCD or a willingness to outwork other musicians doesn’t matter. Toby runs High/Low recording studio, where the record was made. Jake recently finished a solo record and moved to New York. With side gigs and plenty on their plates, Tiger High shows no sign of slowing down or cooling off. The new record demonstrates mastery of the pop chorus and of the Fender amplifier. Also in evidence is a love for Phil Spector by way of the Jesus and Mary Chain.

Flyer: Who writes your songs?

Toby: We all do. Any one of us is capable of crafting a song or producing a musical moment, but Jake is certainly the catalyst.

Do you record live or assemble things through overdubs?

Greg: We cut, mixed, and mastered two complete full-length albums, a single, and an EP all at once. We cut a total of 27 songs during the sessions that produced Inside the Acid Coven. Eleven of those songs ended up on the LP. Unlike the songs on Inside the Acid Coven, the 14 other songs from the sessions had been part of our live show for some time. Ten of those songs are on the following album, Tropical Illusion, and two songs will be on a single, both due summer 2015.

Toby: The first two records, Myth Is This and Catacombs After Party, were both written and recorded quickly as a three piece with me engineering. Then we’d develop the songs through overdubs afterward. There was a focus on destruction on those two records. A lot of harsh guitars, cassette loops, and running sounds through huge pedal chains. The Inside the Acid Coven tracks weren’t rehearsed a lot, but we consciously spent time arranging them before we cut them. We always remain open to things changing in the moment. This is also the first recording where I’ve been able to track live with the band because we brought Pete Matthews in to man the controls during tracking. Having Pete there really allowed me to focus on my playing and the sounds we were creating as opposed to the technical stuff. Of the two records we cut during these sessions Acid Coven is really the most straight forward. The other, Tropical Illusion, is much more spacious and psychedelic, longer songs and such. That one was developed through performances and had ever-shifting arrangements that we let evolve over about a year of shows. So there’s no real cut and dried way in which we approach each record. We try to keep it fresh and try new things.

Jake: Inside the Acid Coven was a complete concept that was conceived and recorded all at one time. It’s also the first record of ours where Toby truly used his studio as one of his many instruments, crafting and shaping the sound. When we mixed Acid Coven, Pete, Toby, and I were extremely meticulous with tones and atmospheres. When we mixed Catacombs, we ran the whole thing through a Fuzz War pedal and called it a day.

Greg, you have experience in radio and promotion. What’s important after making a record?

Greg: With Trashy Creatures Records I have put together a great team, and building the right team has taken some time, but we are all happy with the crew. The first thing after Toby and Pete mix a record is mastering. Brad Blackwood does all my mastering. So many people neglect this step; it’s the final step that really completes a record. Real mastering is important. I have good distribution for hard product and digital, as well as good PR firms for radio, blogs, and print. All of those are key to spreading the word.

What Memphis music influenced Tiger High?

Greg: A ton. I was born here and raised here, we all were, in fact. This city is it musically for me. I have been lucky to have had players like Paul Burlison, Roland Janes, and Jim Dickinson as mentors. Just being able, over the years, to go around the corner and see everybody from Rufus Thomas, Grifters, Oblivians, B.B. Cunningham, Jay Reatard, Alex Chilton, to Lee Baker has been like a dream.

Toby: I feel the influence is huge, and that’s not to say that we’re actively trying to recreate a sound or pay homage to anyone in particular. I just feel that this city is a magnet for creative people in general but musicians specifically. The unbelievable wealth of talent in this city is often ignored because we don’t have the flash and notoriety of other “music” cities. But I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of people at High/Low, and I’m constantly amazed and thankful to call those people my friends.

Y’all haven’t played since 2013. Why not?

Toby: We took time off before we even started to look for a replacement for Greg Faison. Time off was a strange concept because, in that period, we all worked together on side projects, all of which feature all of the members of Tiger High. We had to reconfigure Tiger High, but that didn’t stop us from being productive.

Who is the new addition to the band?

Greg: Our new bass player is Leo Ramos. He is a really creative guy and a great player. He’s super easy going and enthusiastic. He’s a great fit. He was the first and only guy we auditioned.

Toby: Leo has great taste and is musically adventurous. Qualities we admire. He’s been great.