The Blakes: Ramshackle Hearse [Video]

This one has been a long time coming.

Today, I’m happy and proud to share with you my first foray into music videos. It’s a video for The Blakes titled “Ramshackle Hearse.” You may remember my love affair with the band. Ever since I put their track “Don’t Bother Me” behind Chase Jarvis RAW: Advance Testing the Nikon D90, I’ve been enamored with their rough pop sound.

It’s after midnight now, and I’m holed up in a small hotel room in L.A. Sort of in disbelief, really, that I’m actually–finally–writing this post. Reason? I concepted this music video about 18 months ago on a flight to NYC. We shot it in 2 days over 15 months ago with an amazing group of people, and then wrapped it together about 6 months ago. And we’ve been sitting on it for 6 months now hoping to time this post with The Blakes new record release. That day is finally here. Their new album, Souvenir, is on sale now via iTunes.

Hats off to my friends at Superfad. In addition to the honor of sharing the director’s role with uber-creative Will Hyde (great collaboration) and also to my pal Rob Sanborn who originally got will and I working together, the Superfad took the lead on the digital effects for this gig. They put in talent, wisdom and huge hours. And they hit it outta the park. Dreamy to work with these guys.

Want the full story on how this sucker was made? Watch this video here… Chase Jarvis RAW: Making Ramshackle Hearse.

A few juicy bits for those of you who like backstory, after the jump…[click the ‘continue reading’ link below]—

1. This short film music video was a collaborative personal project. There is no “client”. There’s no label. The fancy budget = 0. This was entirely funded by myself and Superfad. Why do we shoot elaborate productions like this with our own money? Cause it feels good to make stuff.

2. For the techies out there, we shot this piece on the Red ONE camera and the Phantom HD camera. Amazing pieces of machinery. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro, by the uber-editor, Josh Bodnar. Josh cut the intro titles to the Showtime series Dexter. You get the picture. The dude is awesome.

3. There are cameo appearances from a dozen or more Seattle bands. What a great community the Seattle music scene really is. We managed to pull bands together from every genre to support The Blakes. If you’re a music junkie like me, look for Head Like a Kite, The Saturday Knights, Brent Amaker & The Rodeo, Natalie Portman Shaved Head, Disjointed Isotopes, Hazelwood Motel, and more.

4. We’re chatting with MTV and some of the music channels, so you might see it in the mainstream loop. But you might not. I love the web. And this sucker feels right online. More TK.

5. I learned a TON on this project. Knowing how much I learned and knowing my love for music AND video, I’m already looking forward to doing some more of this.

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