Fade is one of the first tracks that I made a music video for. It was with a smoke machine in my garage! This posed many challenges, but I also learned a lot! Here’s the video and story:
I wanted to make a track that was very meditative – in which the listener could zone out and feel at peace. I also wanted to incorporate a lot of different sounds and instruments. An instrument that I cherish is the accordion I inherited from my papa. I have fond memories of going camping in the Adirondack mountains (upstate New York, USA) and hearing him play. The instrument laid dormant for over 20 years. When I started producing music, I gathered unused instruments from families and friends and tried to breathe new life into them. Though I play the accordion poorly, it makes me really happy and nostalgic that I can incorporate it into my music (albeit with a lot of effects!).
Then I added my go-to instruments of sax (the instrument I learned music on as a child, my comfort zone) and guitar (the instrument I learned and played in bands when I was in college). I filled out the track with various percussion instruments and ‘foley’ I’ve collected over the years.
I always seek to experiment and try new things in my music. Last year I began making videos to accompany my songs. One of the challenges I faced was fitting different sized instruments in a landscape shot. Sax and guitar can be difficult to fit in frame properly. I thought if I made panels, and put the focus on the action parts of the instruments, it could make a really cool and engaging video. To fit the theme of “fade” I tried using a smoke machine. The panel idea turned out pretty nicely, but I will likely not do the smoke again! It brought the camera out of focus a lot, and it was not fun breathing in all the smoke in my garage!
I will continue to use the smoke machine in live shows though 🙂
Musical Motivation 