It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving. All the leftovers have been eaten, and all the naps have been taken. It’s time to go back to work. If you’re anything like Music Video Monday, you’re not dealing with it very well.
Jacob Church is here to deliver a wake-up call. The Memphis rocker is channeling Cheap Trick to get you up and running. “Sunshine” is a thick slab of feel-good pop. In the video, directed by bassist-turned-auteur Landon Moore, Jacob picks up the band and drags their asses to rehearsal, where they quickly get their mojo back. We’re doing the same for you.
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Today, we have a brand-new artist on Music Video Monday. Isabella&Sebastian are not who you’re probably thinking of. They’re the indie pop duo of Isabella deFir and Sebastian Stephens, two Memphis teenagers with a surprisingly mature sound. “Lavender” is their latest single recorded, at Young Avenue Sound.
“‘Lavender’ is a complex song that describes an enthralling young woman who uses her femininity to get what she wants,” says deFir. “Many have tried to break down her walls, and all have failed and been left brokenhearted. As dreamy as she seems, upon closer inspection of the lyrics, one may notice she is subtly falling apart, her flakey and unstable lifestyle being a defense mechanism to protect herself from whatever she may be hiding from. But one can’t help but fall in love with her, including the narrator of the story.”
The video by Landon Moore takes the duo inside the legendary Paula Raiford’s Disco Downtown. All I’ll say is, this video’s got a lot of disco balls.
Memphis’ own musician/producer Mark Edgar Stuart has a new album, Never Far Behind. It was produced by Will Sexton at Bruce Watson’s Delta Sonic Studio. The first single is the floaty, melancholy “Until My Dying Day.” The music video, which was produced and directed by Landon Moore, takes us to some visually interesting locations in Memphis, like the stage of the Crosstown Theatre.
“I’ve had this song in my pocket for a long time,” says Stuart. “It’s a song for my mom. A song of reflection, gratitude, and joy. A simple ditty, repetitive and catchy, almost like a nursery rhyme. I just wanted her to have no problem understanding the sentiment. It could also be about a father, daughter, a friend, or even a sweetheart. It’s your song now.”
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Memphis folk-rock stalwart and MVMfrequentflyerMark Edgar Stuart‘s got a new album coming out called Until We Meet Again. “It’s a quasi-concept album about life, love, and afterlife,” he says.
The lead single, “What’s Louder Than Love?” exemplifies the mood of the record, which Stuart calls “Nothing too heavy, and nothing too personal … My past videos have been melancholy, so this time I wanted to come out swinging with something upbeat and light-hearted. I figured after the past two years we’ve had, who wants to hear more sad shit?”
Bassist Landon Moore directed the video. “It was 100 percent his vision,” says Stuart. “All I did was just walk around Midtown and hang out with some of my favorite Memphis people — mostly those who worked on the record like my two producers Reba Russell and Dawn Hopkins, plus musician pals Will Sexton and Shawn Zorn. There’s tons of great cameos too including Keith Sykes, Jerry Phillips, and Matt Ross-Spang … Making this video was an absolute hoot. My favorite scene is Steve Selvidge and Rod Norwood airing out their Facebook rivalry on camera.”
If you’d like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
The pandemic has disrupted the lives and careers of musicians everywhere. As a result, it has also prompted a wave of home recording, and encouraged new collaborations. The Bandwagon project is one of those.
“It’s basically musicians in these quarantine times recording and writing together via email,” says Joshua Crosby. “Like, I send Jeremy Stanfill an idea, then he adds guitar and sends it to, say, Jeff Hulett. And he adds drums then he sends it to, say, James Godwin, and he adds bass. And then it comes back to me in a way I never imagined it and then we put it up on the Bandwagon Bandcamp page. So, it’s a way to collaborate with folks you maybe never would’ve — be it not for quarantine — and also a way to let go of creative control. And anyone is welcome to submit songs.”
“Telepathy” was written by Mark Edgar Stuart and recorded by Jeremy Stanfill and Landon Moore. Director Billy Worley found some awesome vintage footage of psychics “at work” to create a memorable music video. Take a look.
Music Video Monday: Moore, Stanfill, Stuart
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
“One positive thing that has come from all of this coronavirus stuff is the collaboration between artists,” says Jeremy Stanfill. “I’ve been connecting and making things with so many songwriters, artists, and musicians over the last month and it’s been really inspiring and good for my mental health.”
One of Stanfill’s frequent collaborators is Landon Moore. The two trade home-recorded compositions to shape into complete songs. “When he sent this particular track over, it was about a week into the stay-at-home order. I was starting to feel restless, anxious, and overwhelmed, so that was what I wrote the words about.”
“Secret Summer” is a beautiful piece of melancholy pop. “We thought it was fitting for the times because that is what many of us are feeling right now. We are stuck at home dealing with a roller coaster of emotions looking at life from a window or through a screen. We may not all be in the same boat, but we are all in this storm together,” says Stanfill.
Filmmaker Billie Worley (who appears on the cover of the May issue of Memphis magazine) faced the problem of making a music video while social distancing. “I wanted to make the video as simply and safely as we could with the current pandemic and quarantine. I wanted to capture that feeling of ‘groundhog day’ that I for one am experiencing everyday. I also wanted the shot out the window to be my ‘Wizard of O’ moment. Like we are living in this crazy repeating world that can feel depressing or anxious (black and white footage), but we need to remember there is a world of color out there that we will all get to go back to living in soon. I for one cannot wait to see friends and love on every one of them after this. See you all in color soon!”
Music Video Monday: Jeremy Stanfill and Landon Moore
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
