You ARE a Damn Job!

Today is January 16th, so I am legally prohibited from saying "happy new year" to you all. I really WOULD, but, hey, I'm bound by the rules... everyone knows you can't say it after the 15th. That's just the way it is... rules are rules, and if I were to break that rule, our societal fabric could collapse in on itself. No one wants that.

That being said, I would like to tell you our most recent news: we have completed another video... (HOORAY!) This one for the song "Picture Frame." I'm sure you're expecting that I've gone with standard protocol here, and dropped the band in a field or warehouse, and filmed us playing the song in the rain. However, you would be mistaken. I decided to break with tradition... This video is a black and white, grainy melodrama about a husband and wife who realize that they hate each other and are miraculously granted the ability to go back and change the one decision that ruined their lives. Heavy, huh?

We had a great time making this thing! I think the greatest moments happened when we were filming the big fight scene. No, I don't mean martial-arty fights, I mean domestic dispute. Justin and Diane, the people playing the husband and wife, were having a difficult time arguing with each other, as they'd only just met. (You can't imagine how awkward that is.) I tried giving them topics to wrangle over, like "she should get a job", or "he should come to church with me" etc. At one point, Justin and Diane went with the job thing, and in the heat of the moment, Diane yelled "YOU ARE A DAMN JOB!" We all "broke scene" and cracked up for several minutes. It was absolutely hilarious.

I would love to show you that moment and a few others, but, since it was a music video, we didn't need sound, and I left the camera mic off. So, in the footage, all you see is two people arguing and then laughing heartily. That doesn't make for great television.

The concept for this video has nothing to do with the actual meaning of the song, which you can read HERE. I was driving to a supermarket one day, and I thought about the line in "Picture Frame" where it says "or I could cheat / just be discreet / wipe off your feet / when you come in the door." I thought it would be funny if the video turned into a story of a guy cheating on his wife, but then I thought, "nah, the rest of the lyrics wouldn't fit." But then I thought about all the lyrics, and THEY ACTUALLY DO FIT! That's right, the ENTIRE song matches the story of the couple in this video, but that's not AT ALL what I was thinking about when I wrote it. Weird.

So, the only problem with all of this is that we're having some difficulty trying to get the thing online. We shot it in HD, and I'm trying to preserve the quality in uploading it to youtube, but the connection keeps timing out on us. But that's just a roadbump... we'll figure it out and get it online soon. (***EDITORIAL UPDATE: THE VIDEO IS NOW ONLINE!***)

These projects are expanding one video at a time... in "If Ever", it was me and a cameraman. In "Spaceman", it was me with the camera, three actors, and a couple of people acting as crew. With "Picture Frame", we've graduated to 2 camera-persons, a cast of 6 and a crew of about the same, although most of the cast WAS the crew and vice versa. Next time, we'll probably have to hire a food services vendor and some union gaffers. In any case, I'm definitely having a blast while living out my dream of being a musician-filmmaker. :)

So, what's coming up? Well, we're in the "pre-production" phase of a video for "Blackout." Hopefully, we'll get filming underway pretty soon. It is a very loose goal of mine to have a video for each song on this album. That may not happen, but I'd sure like it to... We'll see. In order for that to happen, I'll probably have to relinquish control, and that's just not very easy for me. I'm working on it though.

Peace,

Adams