rock'n'roll babies, dive bars, and ultra low-budget videos - my experience of the music biz in LA Part 1

   
Fellow intern Gabrielle and I goof off at the decidedly unglamorous Soto Studios during a shoot with director Ace Norton.

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Anyone who knows me well knows I have a singing problem. The dog shits in the hallway - I sing about it. I brew coffee at work - I sing about it. I walk under a bridge or into a stairwell and notice there are good acoustics - I sing, just to make sure. I've always felt my life is a musical; however, how exactly I've become involved in the various fascinating (and at times, hilarious) aspects of the music industry in LA is more of a mystery to me. Growing up without MTV and developing my taste for music largely by borrowing from my parent's classic rock library and mixed tapes/cds my siblings made didn't exactly posture me for any of this. I'm a scrapper, though, and in the (un)glamorous world of music videos and the modern record label, that's one of the best traits you can have.

A late night IHOP meeting this week with my dude Justin, a producer with Ghosttown Media (www.ghosttownmedia.com), reminded me of this. Justin began his illustrious career as an audience filler on Judge Judy and after many years producing music videos, is making his way into the documentary film world. I couldn't be happier for him, or more grateful for my experiences on music video sets. But really, Pop-Up Video doesn't do really do justice to what goes on sometimes.

Take, for example, the first music video shoot I was ever on (not counting the No Doubt Tragic Kingdom basement series from grade school, or the infamous "Blackish/Greenish" number Alyssa and I composed). My friend Lisa got me an internship at Partizan (www.partizan.com) and I was eager to prove my worth as a PA, so I spent an entire weekend chasing puppets up and down the streets of Venice. We didn't have any filming permits so we would shoot and run, moving base camp and whatever small crafty we had with us as we went, squatting to pee behind fences like so many Venice locals do. Day two of the shoot I was so dehydrated I nearly puked, and I was two hours late to my real job that actually paid me money. Oh, but it was so fun!

HERMAN DUNE - 1,2,3 Apple Tree directed by Toben Seymour

This next one was directed by the super-talented BDL (www.bdlfilms.com) and takes place in various "exotic" locales around Martel house. Last time I checked, remnants from the snow spraypainted on the window in the living room were still there. Brandon would say stuff like "You're braindead, you're a zombie - okay, now hit yourself over the head." I remember the dude from "Europa" got a little too into it and ended up beating himself up pretty bad. Like, really hitting himself. The concept reminds me of Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," which I unsuccessfully adapted into a short film script in college. BDL's VFX work makes this band look way cooler than they are....

GODS OF THE RADIO - Fighting David Bowie by BDL

My favorite part about the following video is the beautiful costume design by the lovely Emily Batson (www.emilybatson.com) and make up by Tina Cohen (you can watch her demo reel Here). Nothing like playing a little dress up! We filmed in an old abandoned hospital building near downtown, and everyone - the band, the crew, the extras - were incredibly nice. Most likely because they were being led by one of my all-time favorite people in Los Angeles, director Steve Drypolcher (www.stevendrypolcher.com).

BLACK GOLD - Plans & Reveries directed by Steve Drypolcher

Redcar is another incredibly sweet band. Just so nice. I brought Chrissy to set for this one, which we filmed somewhere off Sunset, and she had to sit through my friend Andrew and I choreographing the dance sequence for hours. In the final cut, the dance was reduced to us sacheting and jumping off a rock, but hey, it was a fun day. Pay special attention to Ryan, the drummer, and his awesome drumstick moves.

REDCAR - Can't Be Stopped by Toben Seymour

The following video is an example of what a director can do with a decent size budget. This was shot at KTLA studios in Hollywood. I spent most of the day shuffling between Partizan and set, running various errands, and still have some lime green paint on my workboots from painting flats for green screen shots. During one of our breaks, I found myself chatting with Rob Thomas about a recent encounter he had with Hanson - "Those guys are real chill now." Good to hear, dude. Saaweet.

When we wrapped I had to rush drive the director to the airport so he could get back to Switzerland or France or something. He was really cool and I love what he did here, even though his heart wasn't in it - but then on my ride home I was still so frazzled I ended up getting pulled over by a cop on foot. He waved me down and gave me a $100 ticket for going straight in a right turn only lane - why I stopped, I have no idea.

Remember Ryan from the Redcar vid? Yep, that's him drumming for Matchbox 20, although he's much more subdued here.

MATCHBOX 20 - How Far We've Come by Ramon & Pedro

I love love love this video, largely because my frenchie, Gabrielle, looks awesome covered in fake blood in many of the shots. I dropped by set at studios off Soto just to check out the shoot, see what scraps I could get off of crafty, and ended up lighting some of the outdoor shots with the high-beams of my Honda. Creative problem solving at it's finest! They hardly even needed to do any set design, the front rooms in the studio are so dilapidated.

This was one of the only times I have come into contact with a creepy stage mom - one of the mothers of the little boys with chainsaws told me she started booking him more work after she let her 7 year old rock a wife-beater and baggy pants in his headshots. Never too early to start practicing for the thug life.

AESOP ROCK - Coffee directed by Ace Norton

John Legend is such a total babe, it's a shame I was such a total freak stress-mess during this shoot to enjoy his presence. This one was really interesting for me because I was in charge of a bunch of shit, including coordinating extras casting, running crafty, painting the set, acting as transpo, whatever needed doing. While speeding around downtown Los Angeles in a 12 person passenger van full of extras on 2 hours sleep does have a certain sort of adrenaline rush to it, it's kind of dangerous. Beautiful, simple work by the charming John Pina.

JOHN LEGEND - Another Again directed by John Pina

My internship at Partizan was really great experience and introduced me to some great people, but alas, when I moved to LA after finishing school in Ohio, there were no job openings for me there. Wah-wah (see Matt Cleaver if you don't know how to pronounce that properly).

Next week's blog will be about CMH Records, the record label I am currently working for, and all the various tomfoolery that goes on there with my co-workers and their fledgling music projects. Til then, take care! xoxo