Category Archives: Music Videos

Reviews of music videos.

REVIEW: Arshenic’s Brooding “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” Music Video

Arshenic

Arshenic’s new single and music video for “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” was released on April 12th and can be enjoyed on any listening format. It is a beautifully haunting cover of the classic Lead Belly song. Arshenic is a melodic metal band from Poland, formed in 2007 by the vocalist and songwriter, Oliwia “Ofilia” Bartuś-Staszak. The other current members of the band include electric guitarist Włodzimierz “Vlad” Czuba and drummer Bartosz Staszak.

The name of the band is a reference to arsenic, which is generally thought of as a poison, however it can also be a cure. The duality between the strong female vocals, both singing and screaming, matched with clean and distorted guitars, powerful bass, and zestful drums, with a pinch of cellos, electronics, and orchestral sounds rounding out the background can be heard throughout the group’s catalogue of songs.

The music was produced by Dawid Gorgolewski, Studio Osso. The music video’s script was written by Ofilia, and Creo Official was the video producer.

As the video begins, the camera focuses on the coastline near a wooded cliff. It briefly transitions to Ofilia facing the camera wearing a gas mask — a perfect reference to the meaning of the band name — while cradling a black and white cat in her arms.

Returning to the coastline, the camera follows Ofilia as she sings and walks along an empty coastline wearing a black dress, a crystal necklace, a belt with three pentagrams, skeleton tights, and black combat boots as waves crash near her feet. The instruments, her voice, and the beach give the video a nostalgic vibe. Interspersed slow-motion footage of her footsteps lends itself to an ominous atmosphere in the video, paired with the brooding tone of the song.

Włodzimierz “Vlad” Czuba (Guitars), Arshenic

The instrumentalists are slowly revealed during the music’s buildup. Closeups zoom in on black-gloved hands sliding on the guitar with a skeleton head on the frets. The drummer plays while wearing a white gas mask with the eyes covered in black Xs. The electric guitarist wears a black mask with silver studs covering all but his eyes with a backward baseball cap on his head. The band members wearing masks stare deadpan at the camera.

Bartosz Staszak (Drums), Arshenic

As the melody sways, Ofilia walks down a dirt path in the woods wearing another gas mask, the hood of her black dress up, with scenes cutting between the woods and the beach. The transitions of water breaking over the sand and clips of rocks with the soft music are soothing. 

As the song explodes, Oflilia walks through a graffiti-covered hallway of an abandoned building. These clips are entangled with footage of a forbidden romance, lit by a red-hued light.

The scenes cut back and forth with fluidity. The musicians flicker with high-speed cuts as they play with intensity — a duality of pacing between this point and the beginning, matching the vocals and instrumentals. The video concludes as it began, pulling away from the deserted coastline.

Many elements of this video can certainly speak to viewers that are currently practicing social distancing during the pandemic. Whether that was the intention or not, the video is an emotionally evocative, powerful watch that rolls out slowly and leaves the viewer impacted.

Arshenic’s latest album, Final Collison, released by Sliptrick Records, came out in August of 2019. With their new single out now, hopefully, there’s a new album coming out sometime in 2020. Until then, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” will be playing on repeat.

Fans can find out more information about upcoming shows and announcements through the band’s website, Instagram, and Facebook page.

Arshenic Online

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Songwriter Mark Greenawalt Self-Makes “Don’t Cry Angel” Video While in Quarantine

PHOENIX — Singer-songwriter Mark Greenwalt took the opportunity to make a music video during the government mandated stay-at-home policy. With a crew of one, he propped his prosumer camera on a tripod to film himself at the piano and behind a guitar playing his original song, “Don’t Cry Angel.” The video was released on his YouTube channel on April 4th, Greenawalt’s 53rd birthday.

The Making of the Video

He co-wrote the song with songwriter Angel Pizzaro in 2011. Pizarro presented the heart-felt lyrics about a personal friend of his who had tragically passed away. The songwriting team crafted the story to discuss the relationship between a new angel and the grieving friends and family they have left behind. “It seemed to have a message,” he said, “for people to relate to who are suffering from losses during our current pandemic.

The chords and melody of the song were developed while Pizarro sat with Greenawalt at his piano nearly ten years ago. The opportunity to record the song came from a mutually beneficial relationship with the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences (CRAS) in Phoenix, who needs bands and musicians to help their students learn the ropes of professional recording techniques. The core players in the session were Pizarro on drums, Webb Pickersgill on bass, and Greenawalt on keyboards, guitars, and vocals. Student engineer, Daniel Armijo, later stated that he ended up getting a grade of 97 on the project and a song was born.

While in the studio, Greenawalt had shot some video of Pizarro playing drums. “It wasn’t the greatest of quality,” he said, “but it seemed to be a good way to get started on the music video.” There wasn’t any usable footage of Greenawalt and Pickersgill from the studio, and at this point Pickersgill had moved to Colorado to be a game director with Deck Nine (Life Is Strange). Pickersgill, however, was very interested when asked if he would be willing to film himself playing the song. “I’ll bring my bass to work”, he said, “and just ‘Milli-Vanilli’ a few takes on video for you.

When it was time for Greenawalt to perform his sequences, he envisioned singing in front of a stained glass window. At a loss for where to find one that he could record in front of, he went to YouTube to find a DIY way to make his own. After a trip to the hobby shop to get glass paint and faux leading, he created a mosaic image of angel wings with sun rays reminiscent of the Arizona state flag.

Watch Mark Greenawalt’s Time-Lapse Video

Another project behind the scenes was getting the overhead shots of the piano. For this, Greenawalt build an iPhone carrier and hung it from fishing string over a raised backdrop stand. The raising and lowering was accomplished by reeling the string around a rotating electric drill bit. “It seemed to be a good idea,” said Greenawalt, “but most of the footage was shaky and unusable. It was worth a try and a few clips actually made it into the video.

Overhead shot of Mark Greenawalt playing the piano

I wanted to include an aerialist in the video who would be spinning up high in hoop,” he said, “And I envisioned filming them over water and wearing angel wings. With the quarantine if full swing, it didn’t seem like I was going to have the opportunity to get that footage.” The eureka moment came when he found a video on a friend’s page on Facebook that was as beautiful as he had envisioned. I wasn’t over water and aerialist Dakoa O’Kane wasn’t wearing angel wings, but the imagery was stunning. He reached out to videographer Glen Goldblatt for permission to use the footage was thrilled when it was granted. This footage ended up being the bookends of the fade in and fade out of the video.

Aerialist Dakoa O’Kane footage by Videographer Glen Goldblatt

Greenawalt had a guest vocalist come to his home studio to record some harmony vocals on the song after the initial recordings at CRAS. She also “sang” some angelic whispers saying, “Goodbye, I’ll be waiting for you.” This was such a feature in the song that it seemed important to have it performed in the video. Keeping social distancing to a minimum, Greenawalt reached out to his daughter-in-law Savannah Greenawalt to play the part of the angel in the video. There were just a few short takes of her behind the stained glass and some extreme closeups of her singing the harmonies and it was a wrap for Savannah on the home “set.”

Savannah Greenawalt behind Mark Greenawalt’s handmade stained glass window

The rest of the shots were self performed and filmed by Greenawalt in his living room including a “martini shot” of him playing a “keytar” in the recently renovated tile bathroom. He culled on his knowledge from his day job as a lighting designer to successfully illuminate the sets and his brief education from film classes at The Film School at Scottsdale Community College for the editing process.

The video was completed in time for a premiere on the evening of his 53rd birthday where friends and family joined in on the chat to speak with songwriters Greenawalt and Pizarro.

“Don’t Cry Angel”

  • Written by Mark Greenawalt and Angel L. Pizarro Jr.
  • Future-Class X Publishing, ASCAP
  • Faded Periwinkle Publishing, ASCAP

Mark Greenawalt is both a Senior Concert Photographer and part-time Music Journalist for Burning Hot Events! See his concert photography here, and writing here.

Mark Greenawalt Online

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REVIEW: Jane N’ The Jungle ‘Shakes Out’ New Video

TEMPE Ariz. — Jane N’ The Jungle announced the official worldwide release of their new music video, “Shake Me Out,” on Tuesday, May 31. The announcement came just days after the band’s successful premier of the video at Shady Park in Tempe on May 28.

Created by Rachael Smith of Ray Squared Photography, the video features vocalist Jordan White, guitarist Brian Dellis, bass guitarist Leah Brooks, and drummer Tommy Acedo rocking out in a graffitied underground garage. The video also features performances from ballet artist Samantha Kelly of Terpsicore Dance Company (TDC) Studios.

The group initially wanted to film at their rehearsal site, Bombshelter Studios, until building manager Adam Marr showed them something different. “We thought that the underground graffiti area was the perfect location,” White said in an email. When inquiring about dancers, Marr also proposed using a ballerina in the video. “We loved the idea,” White said.

The video’s technical crew, Max Gruber and Bryce White, were responsible for the vivid lighting and fog effects seen in the video. While filming, the crew had to be mindful of preventing the fog from setting off fire sprinklers. And while the dusty location combined with the blowing fans to create other challenges, everyone involved had fun during the shoot.

Jane N’ The Jungle is now working on finishing up their debut album. “We really wanted to take our time with this record and want to push out a finished product that feels right and represents the music the best we could,” White said. The group expects to announce the much-anticipated release date of the album within the next couple months.

While the record won’t be out in time for the Jane N’ The Jungle’s summer tour, they’re excited to be hitting the road with Painted Bones, another Arizona local band. The group will also be playing shows in

Las Vegas, Nevada, and Hollywood, California, with KM, a Long Beach indie pop band and friend of the group. “We are looking forward most to hitting the pavement and meeting new friends and fans,” White said.

Jane N’ The Jungle also announced that Smith would be accompanying them this summer and promises plenty of surprises are in store. The group will be documenting the tour so that fans can keep up with the ins and outs. “We’ve got some exciting shows happening in August and look forward to spending more time at high schools, middle schools, colleges and inspiring teens/preteens with music,” White said.

The members of Jane N’ The Jungle are excited to be on the verge of debuting their first record and hope that it won’t be the last. “The Phoenix music scene and all the fans have really inspired JNTJ and are the backbone to why we play so many shows, and we appreciate everyone’s love and support,” White said.

With a full summer calendar ahead, fans will still have plenty of opportunities to catch Jane N’ The Jungle playing in Phoenix. Fans can also find out more information about upcoming shows and announcements through the band’s website and Facebook page.

Check out our photos of Jane N’ The Jungle’s concert!
PHOTOS: Jane N’ The Jungle – Shady Park 5-28-16

Jordan White, Jane N' The Jungle - Shady Park
Jordan White, Jane N’ The Jungle © Kataklizmic Design