A couple of months ago, we went into Hotel2Tango studio in Montreal to record and film a live-off-the-floor video for a couple of songs from Collider. The first installment is “Longitude” and another will follow in the weeks to come. Lizzie Powell, who performs the song on the album, came out of the woods, leaving behind her dogs and songs to rekindle the fire with us. Dave Pawsey is behind the camera work and editing and the sound was captured by the illustrious Howard Bilerman. Enjoy – SR
2011 is drawing to a close and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who helped make it a year to remember. It began with a new record “in the can,” still untried and untested, without a name, bearing both promise and uncertainty in equal measure – nevertheless, we were eager to share it with all of you. That music took us to some unlikely places and back around to familiar faces. From the beating drums and salmon rivers in St’at’imc Territory, B.C. to the glint of gold in the air around Kirkland Lake, ON and the humbling spectacle of the northern lights over Lac La Biche, AB – the unknown-becoming-know-to-us… On to our Home(s)-Away-From-Home, the BIG CITIES! of Western and Central Canada. On to Toronto and a two-night occupation of Massey Hall. To Detroit, Minneapolis and New York, Chicago and Boston and of course our Beloved BUFFALO, still knocking on the heavy gilded doors that guard America’s unlimited promise. “One song!” – they say it only takes one song to make them move as if on hinges greased with bacon fat, light as morning television. I swear I saw a crack open this year and some beautiful unearthly light shine through, enough of something to make us want to tape-up our knuckles for another round in 2012. To all of you who came to the shows, who shared in the music, who helped keep this promise alive – Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and on to 2012!!!
The 7th Annual Andy Kim Christmas Show Wednesday December 14th, The Phoenix Concert Theatre – 410 Sherbourne… Doors open 7pm… Show starts 8pm…
Artists…
Sam Roberts, Lights, Ron Sexsmith, Alex Lifeson from Rush, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning from Broken Social Scene, Arkells, James Black & Rick Jackett from Finger Eleven, Sarah Harmer, BUCK65, Emma-Lee, Honeymoon Suite, Emma-Lee, Dru and comedian Sean Cullen…with one more to be announced next week. This year’s charity…
Julliette’s Place is a refuge centre for women and their children who must leave their abusive home life. Most women just grab the necessities, so when they arrive at Julliette’s, they are not only given clothing, food, beds, and toys, but a safe place to try to start their lives again. www.julliettesplace.org
Check out these cool photos that our friend Mary O’Connell put together for us. She was inspired to do this in anticipation of our recent show in Peterborough. Thanks Mary!
This summer I was approached by Sam Roberts and the band about the possibility of directing a music video for their latest album, COLLIDER. They wanted to do something different, not a predictable performance video, so I had the freedom to do something I thought would be exciting. I spent a week listening to the album while reading the lyrics and riding the subways of New York. I wanted to explore the struggle of urban life through an unlikely character, and one of the ideas I proposed was the portrayal of an urban beekeeper. As a documentary filmmaker, I wanted to show a day in the life of this person. My neighborhood, the border of Williamsburg and Bushwick, was an ideal location. These streets have witnessed an unstoppable gentrification, so I wanted to shoot some of the abandoned buildings before they’re swallowed up. But I had to find an actual beekeeper, someone who deals with the struggle of urban life every day. For weeks I went to hive inspections with New York’s tight-knit beekeeping community and at the last minute, found the perfect lead. The first shoot was on one of New York’s typical 100 degree summer days. Sweating under the sun, we filmed our beekeeper effortlessly tending to her hives on their Brooklyn rooftop. It was starting to come together, but the beekeeper needed to have a dramatic encounter to elevate the story. Sam and I had worked on a video years ago, a gritty urban tale, and he wanted to evoke a similar emotion. We decide to plunge her into an encounter with a dark force. By the end, the video had transformed into a sort of short film. I can thank Sam for pushing this project into the realm of something truly different.
Right after I made my first documentary in the late 90s, I was living in Montreal and met Sam and members of what would eventually become the Sam Roberts band. The first music video I ever did was for them, an underground version of Brother Down, unreleased at the time. I also made a few video installations for shows of theirs in Montreal and Toronto. After moving to Brooklyn in 2000, I focused on documentaries, often about music. I went on to work with artists as diverse as seminal Brooklyn rock band Oneida to hip-hop legend Tragedy Khadafi. This summer, I released MAKE, the documentary that inspired Sufjan Steven’s last album. My current project, WITHOUT ART, is an analysis of the pollution of contemporary art.
