Music Video Monday wishes you happy freakin’ holidays!
The operative word is “freak” with The Sheiks. The boffo Bluff City combo usually plays a “Christmas in Space” show about this time every year, but with the damn pandemic messing up the program, they’ve opted for a video greeting card to the rock-deprived masses. It’s called “Everybody’s Merry,” and it goes places you might not have wanted to go — namely, into the void with spaceboy (and director) Jesse James Davis. Hop on Astro-Santa’s lap for the most deranged three and a half minutes of the holiday season—and in 2020, that’s really saying something.
Music Video Monday: The Sheiks
If you’d like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com. Happy holidays, and stay safe everyone!
It’s a very special Tuesday edition of Music Video Monday. Two of Memphis’ finest musicians sent in videos for Music Video Monday marking big changes in their lives. Stephen Chopek and Paul Taylor are moving out of Memphis, at least for the time being. Since they’re friends in real life, I decided to pay tribute to them together.
Chopek not only has a prolific recording career, he is also a one-man music video factory. The no-budget auteur has been Music Video Monday’s most frequent feature, and his videos never fail to wow with their creativity. He’s decamping to Atlanta to be with his family, so he made this video for his song “Unspoken Hopes” as a symbol of planting a new seed and hoping it grows. “There’s only so long that you can ignore intuition,” he says. “Recurring ideas, plans, and dreams have a way of finding their way out the unconscious mind and into waking life. ‘Unspoken Hopes’ is about your inner voice manifesting itself into reality through repetition. This song deals with leaving 2020 behind and allowing our instincts to guide us into the future.”
Music Video Two-fer Tuesday: Stephen Chopek and Paul Taylor
“Fun fact,” says Chopek. “The very first gig I played after moving to Memphis in 2014 was drumming with Paul Taylor at the Blue Monkey.” (See Alex Greene’s record review here.)
Taylor is Memphis music royalty. He was the “T” in seminal Antenna punk band DDT, along with Cody and Luther Dickinson. Since then, he’s had a an extensive solo career and been a trusted, in-demand sideman both in the studio and on stage. Trust me, the man plays literally everything better than you. He’s leaving behind the Bluff City to head north, and he’s nostalgic about the Midtown he leaves behind. He says his video for “So Long, Rembert” is “an homage to a special house on a special street; the end of a critical chapter, as my wife and I have relocated to Wisconsin for the time being. So many important things happened in my life in this house, so many things came together for me musically in this room, I can’t help but feel sentimental and want to pay tribute to these four walls! This street, Rembert, right off Poplar Ave, has been home to everyone from Alex Chilton to Jeff Buckley. It’s been one of the last vestiges of bohemian midtown Memphis. Now, half the street is being torn down for condos and the MCA dorms are being replaced with a high rise. This music for me reflects the dismal yet hopeful nature of time moving forward! This video was made by literally screen recording while i slid my thumb to move the frames of a paused video to make my own homemade time lapse.”
Music Video Two-fer Tuesday: Stephen Chopek and Paul Taylor (2)
Paul and Stephen, we’ll miss y’all. Don’t be strangers. After all, everybody knows, once you’re in the Memphis Music Mafia, it’s for life. You’ll always get pulled back in.
Baron Von Opperbean’s Exploratorium of Magic Science and the Multiverse is an epic interactive art installation that has enthralled pandemic-weary Memphians. You can read more about it in my Memphis Flyer cover story from September. It closed at the end of November, but if you missed it, here’s your chance to get a look inside, courtesy of stoner rap god Muck Sticky.
The Sticky Muck is joined by by Reyes himself as the Baron, taking our colorfully clad hero on a tour of the spectacular worlds he explored. It was produced by Linda Kaye Lowery and Ricky Greenway, with camera work by Nick Dianni and Jack Simon. Muck not only wrote and performed “Living Thing”, but also directed and edited the video. Get ready for a trip.
Music Video Monday: Muck Sticky
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Memphian and secret engine of American pop culture, Juicy J, has been spending his pandemic time in the woods. In his new video, “1995”, the Academy Award-winning producer, rapper, and label executive pods out in a mountain cabin with some fine ladies. Despite announcing his retirement from the music biz with his last release, No Pressure, Logic joins J for a couple of verses. But it’s Juicy who gets the last word, remembering his days in North Memphis in 1995 before he could afford the lux life.
The video was directed in the true Rick James tradition of hot babes and high life by frequent Logic collaborators Mike Holland and Justin Fleischer. Get ready to go for a spin on the ATV.
Music Video Monday: Juicy J
If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Julien Baker won the hearts of music lovers right out of the gate with the startling intimacy and meticulous craftsmanship of her 2015 debut, Sprained Ankle. Her sophomore album from the following year, Turn Out the Lights, built on that with a somewhat more elaborate sound palette, recorded at Ardent Studios. Since then, her only release has been the 2018 EP by boygenius, a collaborative effort with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, and fans have been scanning the skies for any new solo work with great anticipation.
Now the wait is nearly over, with two new videos heralding the release of her third album, Little Oblivions, due out on February 26 via Matador Records. Watch for more coverage of that in these pages soon, but in the meantime, have a look at the video and soak in the sound of her sweet new single.
“Faith Healer” was released in October, and portends a more ambitious approach to production than Turn Out the Lights. While that album filled in her sound more than her debut, it was still rather minimalist, for the most part. Now Baker brings us the sound of a rock band, albeit one still laced with all the introspection of her previous work. Engineered by Calvin Lauber and mixed by Craig Silvey (The National, Florence & the Machine, Arcade Fire), both of whom worked on Turn Out the Lights, the album was recorded here in Memphis between December 2019 and January 2020. Baker’s guitar and piano playing are enhanced with bass, drums, synthesizers, banjo and mandolin. Nearly all of the instruments were played by Baker herself.
Julien Baker Resurfaces: Two New Singles Include a Holiday Deep Cut
Upon the release of “Faith Healer,” the artist released this statement:
Put most simply, I think that ‘Faith Healer’ is a song about vices, both the obvious and the more insidious ways that they show up in the human experience. I started writing this song 2 years ago and it began as a very literal examination of addiction. For awhile, I only had the first verse, which is just a really candid confrontation of the cognitive dissonance a person who struggles with substance abuse can feel— the overwhelming evidence that this substance is harming you, and the counterintuitive but very real craving for the relief it provides. When I revisited the song I started thinking about the parallels between the escapism of substance abuse and the other various means of escapism that had occupied a similar, if less easily identifiable, space in my psyche.
There are so many channels and behaviors that we use to placate discomfort unhealthily which exist outside the formal definition of addiction. I (and so many other people) are willing to believe whomever — a political pundit, a preacher, a drug dealer, an energy healer — when they promise healing, and how that willingness, however genuine, might actually impede healing.
Meanwhile, another release from Baker surfaced right before Thanksgiving. Instead of more material from the upcoming album, this is an unexpected curve ball from an artist known for very personal originals: a seasonal song originally popularized by Perry Como. “A Dreamer’s Holiday,” released as an exclusive “Spotify Single,” reveals the artist returning to the reliable guitar-and-keyboard minimalism of Turn Out the Lights, and she makes the old chestnut very much her own. Anyone who wants to enjoy the yuletide vibe without the ear fatigue of overplayed shoppers’ fare can relish the old-fashioned sweetness and Tin Pan Alley poetry of this gem.
In an amusing aside, the artist tweeted about the experience of learning this song from another era: “Straight up had to get on Ultimate Guitar dot com for the first time in like a decade to figure out how to play this song,” she wrote, adding “when I was in the fourth grade my piano teacher taught me how to make a major 7th [chord] and since then I’ve been coasting off of that to make people believe I play piano better than I actually can.”
In 1993, University of Colorado professor Anders Ericsson first put forth the idea that the key ingredient in expertise is 10,000 hours of practice. Many interpret it as a message to creatives everywhere: Talent doesn’t matter so much as not giving up.
PreauXX’s new song “10K” is an ode to the grind.
“They say it takes 10,000 hours to become a master at your craft…have you taken your journey?” asks PreauXX. “This song is dedicated to the people who are relentless about their grind/hustle/goal. Are you willing to do what it takes to get to where you want in life?”
PreauXX’s partners in grind on this Unapologetic joint are producer Kid Maestro and A Weirdo From Memphis.
“10,000 means something different to everybody,” says AWFM. “Could be your journey, could be your price, could be your bounty. What does it mean to you?”
The video, directed by 35Miles, puts us in the middle of a cutthroat card game.
“Shout out to Unapologetic Visual for creating this visual experience,” said Kid Maestro. “Their eye and vision really brought this song to new heights. Also, I won the game of UNO in case anyone was wondering.”
Music Video Monday: PreauXX & AWFM
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“Hygge” is a Danish word that means “cozy” or “comfortable,” as in “wrapped in a blanket with a glass of wine.” After the 2020 America has had, it’s something we all need. MVM newcomer Bailey Bigger is bringing it with “Weight of Independence.”
Bigger is a 20-year-old native of Marion, Arkansas who loves the farm life. “We lived in my great-grandparents’ old house. I love the community part of it. You say your name to a stranger and they say, ‘Oh, you’re Eddie’s granddaughter, David’s daughter,’” she says.
Recorded with the help of her mentor, Mark Edgar Stuart, for her debut EP on Big Legal Mess Records, “Weight of Independence” was inspired by the hardest day in her young life, when her relationship disintegrated and her grandmother passed away. The song is about gaining perspective and finding some kind of inner peace. “It let me step back and see the bigger picture. A lot of things matter way more than that breakup. I had a realization that that person was nothing in the big story.”
For the video, director Joshua Cannon captures Bigger in her rural element. It’s a beautifully shot piece that invokes the first peaceful day after a long storm.
Music Video Monday: Bailey Bigger
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
In a city filled with guitar gunslingers, Robert Allen Parker stands out. You might have seen the veteran guitarist shredding with Hope Clayborne and Soul Scrimmage, or you might have seen his acclaimed 2016 documentary Meanwhile In Memphis: The Sound of a Revolution. But wherever you saw him, it’s likely that he rocked you to the core.
Parker is prepping a new double album of his trademark electric blues/soul called The River’s Invitation. The teaser single demonstrates the deep knowledge of the genre you expect from such a formidable talent. “My Mind Comes from a High Place” is a song by Chubby Checker, but it’s totally different from anything you associate with the guy who popularized The Twist and The Pony. In 1971, Checker abandoned his dance-party image and explored psychedelic soul with the album Chequered. Parker seized on the obscure gem and took it to the house with the assistance of vocalist Kennard Farmer, drummer Donnon Johnson, bassist Chieme Fujio, and guitarist Yubu Kazungu.
Director Kim Lloyd and Meanwhile in Memphis producer Nan Nunes Hackman created this music video for “My Mind Comes from a High Place.” Joined by cameraman Sean Faust and dancer Thais Lloyd, they shot in New School Media’s studio and “a corn field in Atoka.” Buckle your seat belts and get ready for a psychedelic ride. Then get out and vote!
Music Video Monday: Robert Allen Parker
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
1000 Lights began in 2018 as a band on a mission: recreate the Stooges’ Fun House for a Halloween party at Black Lodge Video. And they assembled an all-star cast to do, starting with Flyer film editor Chris McCoy (Super Witch, Pisshorse) on bass, and Russ Thompson (The Margins, Static Bombs, Pisshorse) on drums. To this solid rhythm section they added Joey Killingsworth (Joecephus & the George Jonestown Massacre, Super Witch) on guitar, and, in a masterstroke, Jesse James Davis (Yesse Yavis, Model Zero, The Tennessee Screamers) on vocals. Davis was the perfect fit for the manic, yet devious, rock ‘n’ roll energy exuded by Iggy Pop in the classic Detroit band, being no stranger to stripping off his shirt and gyrating with abandon.
And yet, though 1000 Lights channeled Fun House beautifully, their own personalities came more to fore as they pursued original material. Shedding their tribute-band origins, they emerged as something closer to The Damned with echoes of Tin Machine: Both more frenetic and more atmospheric than the Stooges, depending on their mood, but always bringing the reliable riffs.
The capstone of this was their show at the Crosstown Theater in 2019. As McCoy explains, “Last year, 1000 Lights was asked to be a part of Crosstown Arts’ silent film live scoring series. We chose to do Häxan, the 1922 film by director Benjamin Christensen that is both a documentary about the witch hunts of the Middle Ages and a precursor of the modern horror film. We incorporated our existing songs into the score, and wrote a lot of new material to go along with the film. Justin Thompson and Dawn Hopkins recorded the show, and we took the tapes to Dik LeDoux for mixing and mastering. We took the best parts from the 104 minutes of the live score and created an album which we’re releasing on Bandcamp this week. We couldn’t be more pleased with the results. It doesn’t sound like a live album at all, despite the fact that it was recorded in front of a large audience.”
Today, the world gets its first taste of Häxan, the album on Bandcamp, with this, the first video spawned by the project. Davis steers clear of any obvious Iggy-isms, creating his own Southern take on the more panicked sounds of punk. He is hurtling toward the Bluff City from a devilish distance, perhaps about to slam the city from above like a meteor? The frantic apprehension is captured beautifully by McCoy’s wife, director Laura Jean Hocking. “We shot at Black Lodge,” McCoy notes, “using projection art she created and the big screens they have in their theater. Then she incorporated images from Häxan into the final video.”
Says Hocking, “I wanted to portray Jesse as if he was a denizen of Andy Warhol’s Factory. Jesse has a dynamic, androgynously sexy stage presence and I used it to convey the punk urgency of the song. The layered images and projection give it a fever dream meets Exploding Plastic Inevitable sense, like Jesse is fighting the Devil with rock & roll.”
Music Video Monday: 1000 Lights
1000 Lights celebrate the release of Häxan with a live-streamed concert at Black Lodge, Halloween night, October 31, 9 p.m.
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
Harry Koniditsiotis jokes that he may be “the gothest motherfucker in town.” This is his time of year. The proprietor of 5 and Dime Recording knows how to create a spooky sound. The proof is in the blood pudding with his band Switchblade Kid, who tap the vein of classic death rockers like The Jesus and Mary Chain and Bauhaus. For his latest song “The Young Don’t Cry,” Koniditsiotis says the discovery of a forgotten film reel led to the creation of a supernatural music video. “My friend Parker Hays goes to estate sales and usually gives me all the 8mm stuff he can’t sell. It’s always old home movies and various film releases. I joke to him that one day I’m going to find stag films or something scandalous in the lot. This time I did find something interesting on an unmarked 3.5 min reel — Hammer Films’ ‘The Vampire of Marrakesh.’”
Hammer was the British film company who produced a string of classic horror films from 1955-1975. Productions like The Curse of Frankenstein and The Mummy, with their spooky, atmospheric production design and straight-faced camp portrayals of monsters and maidens, made stars out of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. ‘The Vampire of Marrakesh’is a rare short film that was produced as part of a serial called Tom Terriss the Vagabond Adventurer — Quest of the Perfect Woman. “Basically, the plot is, a douche British guy travels to exotic lands to scam on chicks,” says Koniditsiotis.
The serial predates the founding of Hammer in 1935, but the fledgling company is believed to have purchased the rights to the film from a defunct production company and released as a stand-alone short. “Memphis film scholar Matt Martin of Black Lodge believes the film has never been released on VHS or DVD,” says Koniditsiotis. “Oddly enough, ‘The Vampire of Marrakesh’ does have an IMDB review: ‘Incredibly awful film is something that I’d highly recommend to those who love bad movies. So incredibly awful it’s worth watching.’”
If that’s not a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is. Koniditsiotis edited the surviving scenes from the 8mm reel together to create a suitably seasonal video for “The Young Don’t Cry.” Switchblade Kid will be hosting a Halloween Death Rock Party at 5 & Dime Studio on October 31st. It will be socially distanced to emphasize the gothic alienation and existential horror of the pandemic holiday. Take a look at the video — if you dare!
Music Video Monday: Switchblade Kid
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Alysse Gafkjen 
