Category: VIDEOS

International man of mystery Wilder Woods is set to release his debut album via Atlantic in August. Word in the forest is that this secretive, sophisticated soul singer might actually be the frontman of a well-known band, but that’s about all we know. (Jack White’s people assured us it’s not him, as he’s too busy trying to singlehandedly save the music industry to have yet another side project.) “Sure Ain’t,” the first track shared from Woods’ upcoming album, is a powerful, funky modern soul train that will someday soon be pulling into Spotify subscribers’ Michael Kiwanuka Radio station.

Since our cousin’s dog walker’s dealer knows a guy who worked at Layman Drug Company studios in East Nashville (where the LP was recorded), we sent an email asking if Woods cared to share any thoughts on “Sure Ain’t.” Surprisingly, the man responded.

“‘Sure Ain’t’ is about that innocent and playful type of flirtation,” he said via encrypted text from a blocked number. “It’s about the ongoing chess match when you’re trying to let someone know that you’re into them, but leave the ball in their court to make the next move. It’s about maintaining confidence and swagger while giving the other person the chance to have it their way.”

Well, we’ve all played that game, so it’s nice we now have an awesome three-minute soundtrack (and accompanying visuals) for it the next time we need it.

We’re proud to premiere the video for “Sure Ain’t” today on magnetmagazine.com. Check it out now

Tomorrow NYC singer/songwriter Anthony D’Amato releases latest single “Passing Through,” and he’s kicking off a West Coast stint next month (dates below) in support of this excellent new tune. While on a marathon tour of Europe last fall, D’Amato shot a video for “Passing Through” with Dutch filmmaker/journalist Matthijs van der Ven (The Influences) that perfectly captures the song’s feeling.

We’re proud to premiere the clip today on magnetmagazine.com, and we thought D’Amato could give some insight into the making of the striking video. This is what he had to say:

“We shot the video for ‘Passing Through’ on a day off in Amsterdam right in the middle of an 11-week European tour. So, needless to say, I was feeling the sentiment of the song pretty hard at the time. Touring—especially solo touring—can be incredibly beautiful and incredibly lonely all at once. You meet so many wonderful people and see so many amazing places, but you never get to stay, which makes it all a very bittersweet experience. Director Matthijs van der Ven locked into that feeling right away—perhaps because he travels so much himself. I was grateful to work with someone who so clearly understood what I was trying to convey.

“I first met Matthijs a few years ago while filming a live session in Utrecht for The Influences, the online performance series he runs out of the Netherlands. He was my first call when it came time to shoot this video, in part because I love his work, but also because I liked the idea of shooting something quick and raw with a local filmmaker and then leaving it entirely in his hands while I continued on down the road. It was a chance to make a collage of all the moments that make up a day in the life on tour. There’s wandering and reflection and excitement and boredom and sightseeing and naps on public transportation. There’s marveling at the beauty around you and burying your face in your phone because you found some free Wi-Fi. Most of all, there’s wishing you could stay, if only for just a little bit longer.”

Tour Dates
5/16 – Los Angeles @ Largo (w/ Watkins Family Hour)
5/17 – San Francisco @ Amnesia
5/18 – Sutter Creek, CA @ Feist Wines
5/23 – Portland @ White Eagle Saloon
5/24 – Walla Walla, WA @ Billsville West
5/25 – Prosser, WA @ Brewminatti
5/26 – Port Angeles, WA @ Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts

It’s been 40 long years since the release of the Flesh Eaters‘ self-titled debut EP and 14 years since their last album. But on January 18, Chris D. and his supergroup backing band—guitarist Dave Alvin and drummer Bill Bateman (both Blasters), bassist John Doe and percussionist D.J. Bonebrake (both X) and saxophonist Steve Berlin (Los Lobos)—will release new album I Used To Be Pretty via Yep Roc. Not only did all the participants co-produce the LP, all of them will be touring together in support of the album. (If you’re up on your L.A. punk history—and of a certain age—you’ll no doubt notice this version of the Flesh Eaters is the same exact one that recorded the band’s 1981 masterpiece, A Minute To Pray, A Second To Die.)

But back to the future—and the past as well. The Flesh Eaters just made a video for I Used To Be Pretty track “My Life To Live.” If longtime fans think that song title sounds extremely familiar, they obviously have some brain cells still working after all these years. We’ll turn it over to Chris D. to explain.

“I originally wrote ‘My Life To Live’ back in 1982, that version appearing on the third Flesh Eaters album, Forever Came Today,” he says. “It’s a love song, but it’s coming from a fierce place, full of contradictions. I wrote the lyrics about someone I was deeply in love with then and for several years thereafter. She would come to every Flesh Eaters show and even now is still a fan and a friend. At the time, she had another boyfriend, but there was a window of time where she seemed poised to get together with me. I got conflicting signals and behavior from her about the situation. Most of her girlfriends saw me as the dark, intellectual weirdo and the other guy as a more agreeable, normal choice. So it was a frustrating situation for about six months or so, before she gravitated back to him exclusively. When you’re in your late 20s/early 30s, I think some of us have a more straightforward, direct approach to going after who we want as a mate, ignoring certain perspectives on personality and relationship ‘wisdom’ acquired from experience that we might solidify later. The video is aimed at a younger generation, but it still gets that feeling across of holding on uncompromisingly to an ideal or a dream, no matter what the cost. Sometimes—like at the end of the video when an older embodiment of the character has to let go of his beloved truck—we don’t always have a choice, and dreams are destroyed by forces beyond our control. This whole idea also fits in the with the I Used To Be Pretty album title, aging physically, but still emotionally in a ‘younger,’ more idealistic place.”

Well, there you have it, kids of all ages. No matter how old or young you are, it’s your life to live. So act accordingly.

We’re proud to premiere the video for “My Life To Live” today on magnetmagazine.com. Check it out now, pre-order I Used To Be Pretty, and catch this twice-in-a-lifetime lineup of the Flesh Eaters on tour starting in January.