December 19th 2021 will mark the last show for me of 2021, and the first show with Emily-Rose and the Wild Things in a year and half. It’s absolutely crazy to think that in July 2020 we had gathered together, joyful to be out of lockdown and pumped to record our first studio album together. Not long after we were back in lockdown and the possibilities of bringing out the album in such a volatile industry during covid really became much harder. In any case, I am ecstatic, excited, grateful and also TERRIFIED of organising the first show in SUCH a long time, and also bringing out a spectacular music video all on the same day.
The concept of a video for our track ‘Nightbirds’ had been brewing in my head for a while. I unleashed the vision upon my dear friend Tnee from Raw Mint Video and he helped me reel in the idea, to something still huge, but manageable. I gathered dancers, woke at the crack of dawn to scout locations, spreadsheeted availabilities, devised shot lists, did everything I could to write a convincing grant application but alas was not successful, so dug deep and spent my savings to pay all the artists properly – because at the end of the day, it is my responsibility as a bandleader and (in this case) a director, to make sure the cast are treated fairly, paid AND have a great time doing what we love to do – creating art.
I think I’ll do a deep dive into how the video was all created after I release it and post it to my Patreon, but for now, all you need to know is – if you are in Sydney on Dec 19th, come to The Great Club at 6pm and enjoy some really really great music as a celebration of this momentous occasion. Emily-Rose and the Wild Things will be playing as well as the incredible Emma Stephenson and dreamy Ofri. They are both women I admire greatly in the world of music. Emma is a Freedman Fellowship winner, braved the New York jazz scene for 3 years and is an epic professional of the music world and a very special songwriter. Ofri I have known since she was 8, and now she is navigating the very beginnings of life in the professional music world, but everything about her songs and singing says she is miles ahead – I wish I had had the same gift of songwriting and incredible voice at her age!
If you are not in Sydney on the 19th, you will be able to enjoy all the glory of the music video for Nightbirds online, so do hop over and subscribe to my YouTube channel, click on the little bell for notifications and you will see it when it comes out!