Directed by Ellis and with cinematography by Jordan Edwards, the video is a representation of the musician’s life, honing in on the day of a show to highlight the reality behind the endeavour. “The most difficult part of playing shows in NYC is getting everybody in the same place at the same time,” Ellis says. “Conflicting schedules can be overwhelming, but when the group unites an energy is forged and fueled by loving antagonism expressed through the exchange of sardonic glances in a packed car on the way to a show.”

The rainy gloom of the setting creates something of a noir aesthetic, subverting the typical vision of touring life with something of a reality check. “Exhaustion, forgoing meals, pre-show nerves and the possibility of not meeting costs clouds the mind of most musicians,” Ellis continues, and the video becomes a lesson in the process of shifting this doubt and tiredness in order to exist within the moment on stage. As such, there is something of a ritualistic quality, a series of actions and mindsets to be performed in neat order to allow the epiphanic release to eventually descend.

I chose to save the live footage for the last 45 seconds of the video to represent how the majority of ones time is spent as a musician. The mere 30-45 minutes typically spent on stage is the time that makes the labor of being an artist in an unforgiving city worthwhile and fulfilling.

Still Beats is set for release on the 28th September via Five Kill Records and you can pre-order it now.

Photo by Michael K. Brown