03 SEP 24
This is a campfire song telling the tale of life before the internet, before social media...that magical time of getting lost in the present moment and not focusing on the preservation and presentation of that moment.
This song would not exist without the 'Blood Moon' by Josiah and the Bonnevilles. Go check it out, after watching this video of course ;) • Blood Moon (Extended Version)
This is one (and not the only one off 120 moons) where the lyrics came together first before anything. This is not typical for my songwriting method. Usually, I'll get a guitar rhythm going and then a melody to match, with lyrics being the last part of the process. It came pouring out of me so fast and almost magical. Once the lyrics were almost finished, I started exploring different guitar patterns and tunings to match with the aesthetic. It was at this time Blood Moon by Josiah and the Bonnevilles could not get out of my head. A lot of music artists burry their inspirations, but here I took inspiration from film directors and really leaned into it. It's more of a homage. The chorus melody has a similar cadence to Blood Moon and I just could not escape it. I tried really heard, but ultimately loved how it fit with the lyrics I wrote. I think the Hip Hop community does this really well of being very direct with their references. To the average listener, this will go over your head.
The song title itself is a play on American Online, arguably our first introduction to the internet and even social media minded features from the 90's. It's featured in the end tag of the chorus as well. If American Online is the internet, social connection on the computer, then America Offline is what we did in the real world. We were focused on our lives, not how others were living theirs.
We shot in the peak of summer and that fire was really hot! The pit was sunken into the ground, so we built a pretty big fire that doesn't show on camera. Cabin style for life!!(IYKYK)
Not only was this a super laid-back and fun shoot, I got to teach my daughter how to build a proper campfire. Not so fun part was ending up getting oak mite bites from gathering firewood in the forest. Thought they were just intense mosquito bites, but they lingered for almost 2 months 😱
The initial idea was just to be a full-performance video. When in the edit, I thought of adding in those additional visuals to enhance the story. I love how it turned out and felt like flashback sequences. It was also then I thought to have the old film reel look. It elevated the aesthetic while also adding an additional layer to connect to the narrative visually.