to move up and down
In the Open presents
Young the Giant - West Virginia
The long wait is over, and here is our latest session with Young the Giant for their unreleased song “West Virginia”.
The first time I ever heard the song was in the recording studio while they were tracking their first album. Sameer and I were sitting in the lounge and he wanted to show me some new songs he had been working on, and one of them was West Virginia. I was always a fan of their acoustic work, and ever since hearing West Virginia I wanted to record it. When we made the decision to shoot West Virginia for In the Open I was glad, because I knew just the spot to do it and it meant that there would be a recording of it.
Young the Giant
This shot is from the very first In the Open session that I ever did with Young the Giant out in the Bonneville Salt Flats.
In the Open presents Young the Giant performing Every Little Thing
As we near the end of the videos with Young the Giant, I have to look back at this past year and be thankful for how much they have helped with the growth of In the Open. In the Open started in the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah while on tour with Young the Giant. We were driving along the highway and I asked if we could stop to take photos. We got out and played some soccer and decided that we should film something. I had done some minor filming work with them before, but I had no real knowledge about diving into live performances especially in terms of recording audio. I remember finishing the video and being excited to look at the footage, and that feeling is still there every time I shoot another band. As I have mentioned before, the guys are like brothers to me and I am extremely thankful for them, for putting up with my requests to shoot in places even when we were all tired and just wanted to do nothing.
Thank you Payam, Sameer, Jake, François, and Eric for all your time and work for In the Open. I consider In the Open just as much yours as it is mine, because without you guys there would be no In the Open.
In Case You Missed It:
In the Open presents Milo Greene - 1957
Follow In the Open on Twitter
Like In the Open on Facebook
(Source: intheopen.tv)
In the Open presents Milo Greene - 1957
I shot Milo Greene in LA, the day before coming back up to San Francisco. We had met about a month earlier to discuss what we wanted to do for a video, and decided that we wanted to do something in a cave. Normally for all these shoots I find the locations, but in this case they found the cave. The cave had perfect reverb allowing for their voices to carry without becoming too overwhelming. We ended up spending the entire day moving from the caves to jamba juice for a snack followed by a drive on the PCH to a friend’s orchard/vineyard in Malibu. They are currently on tour and will be releasing their first full length sometime this upcoming spring. Enjoy.
In the Open presents Young the Giant - Typhoon
Being that all of us are originally from Southern California we found it fitting to spend a day filming down there since the rest of our sessions were elsewhere. Earlier in the day we had filmed Your Side and Islands, so it was only fitting to go down to Dana Point for Typhoon. When we were doing the soundcheck I started getting the chills as Sameer’s voice filled the tunnel. The reverb just carried all the way out of the tunnel, and it was the perfect way to end a long day of shooting.
(Source: intheopen.tv)
Release the Sunbird
Before shooting with Release the Sunbird I met with them in a parking lot near the Greek Theater in LA. We discussed where we had to head to and that there was a bit of a hike ahead. We hopped in our separate cars and drove to our spot. It turns out I had underestimated the caliber of the hill we had to climb. It took us about fifteen minutes to make the trek, and once we made it to the top we had a full view of LA. We hunted for a spot to shoot and we filmed two videos. If you haven’t checked out his album, Come Back to Us, make sure to hit the link.
In the Open presents James Vincent McMorrow - Wicked Game (Chris Isaak Cover)
So since this is the behind the scenes portion of In the Open, I figure I can fill you in on some of the details of the shoot. We were set to shoot on the highest hill in San Francisco, so I arrived early since it was a bit confusing to get to the top and a bit of a hike. A lot of these shoots involve more walking than some might be used to, but I make sure it’s always worth it. It turned out that James and his crew were on the other side of the hill, which meant there was a full forest in-between us. I made my way across the hillside in hopes of finding them since we were at that point running late. The day was thankfully beautiful and clear making it easier to follow the paths. Eventually as I was reaching the top of the hill, I could see them making their way up. We all met up and after taking a chance to catch our breaths we took a moment to look at the view. We had the entire San Francisco skyline in front of us with nothing obstructing our view. We then proceeded to talk and decide what we wanted to do. We filmed a total of three songs, and this was the last one. When he started playing “Wicked Game” I knew I was in for a treat. The performance was beautiful, and haunting at the same time. I got the chills towards the end where James held a single note for nearly 20 seconds. So now, here it is for you to enjoy.
Wanna Help?
In the Open has been nominated for a MTV O Music Award in the “Beyond the Blog” Category. I could use your help by getting more votes since I am up against some big competition. Everyone can vote 25 times a day using facebook or twitter, or 50 if you’re sneaky. It would be great if you could share the link too, so we can collectively get In the Open to the top. There will be something for you all as well if In the Open wins as a thank you for everyone’s help.
Here’s a link, otherwise click through the photo:
http://www.omusicawards.com/vote/beyond-the-blog-award/in-the-open
Please ReBlog too!
