Connect with Bhavani Hope:

 

Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?
This song began as images that came to me. I imagined a group of displaced families struggling to find a safe home again. I saw their agony as well as the light in their eyes and relief as they settled into a safe place. I imagined the fear in a mother’s heart relax as she watched her child playing in a world where without war or walls. I wanted to show not only the

pain and hardship of the refugee, but also the spirit of resourcefulness, courage and power of the human spirit that has really been part of the human story since the beginning. That strength that keeps us all walking, sailing, and riding throughout the ages towards a better life

What was the inspiration behind this video (visuals, storyline, etc.)?
The song “Refugee “came first. Most of the lyrics seemed to flow, but at one point I was unsure how to continue. Around that time my sister in law, an excellent film maker had just finished a documentary on the Syrian refugees. Seeing the footage and looking into the faces of the people helped open up the rest of the song for me.  As a singer songwriter it was kind of cool to experience first seeing it all in my mind’s eye, then telling that story musically and then exploring how to help it come to life on film. I did not plan in advance to make a music video, but it just unfolded. The recording was produced by the excellent Washington DC producer Marco Delmar and features talented DC artists playing tabla and wooden flutes. The audio track was featured and reviewed as well in several blogs. It was part of my EP, “Long Road Home” and will be included in my upcoming 2020 album release, “Breakfast With Buddha.”
With the visuals, I tried to allow the integrity of my original song influence the images we chose. I wanted to take the viewer on a journey alongside the refugee through short fleeting scenes that illustrated the changing emotions of people on the run. Families that feel tossed out, discarded by the world. It was important to me that the visuals evolved from despair and desolation to hope, optimism and the joy. I wanted to help the viewer feel swept up in the emotion and leave the video feeling more connected and compassion towards our shared humanity. Beyond the walls and wars and politics lies the simple day to day life of people just like us trying to do the best they can searching for freedom and a better life.

 

What was the process of making this video?
I was fortunate to have a talented college film student, Mira Malcolm produce the video for me. We worked closely together over a period of a couple of months choosing footage that told the story.  All the footage was free stock video. We had a wealth to choose from and it was quite enjoyable (and addictive) to help Mira collect interesting footage options. The black and white photos from the NY library collection helped show the refugee through time. Mira did a beautiful job of capturing the emotional essence of the song and my vision on film. My ancestors came over on the boats from Russia and Poland as refugees onto Ellis Island at the turn of the last century. So I certainly carry the story of the refugee within my soul.

As a woman and an artist, I am committed to using my musical compositions and recordings to bring inspiration to a world in need of the healing power of music.

 

Indie pop duo, 2 Story Cabin, which includes singer/songwriter Tempesta and producer/guitarist mmmatic, have just released their brand new single “Always Better” with accompanying music video on May 15, 2020. Though now based in Brooklyn, NY the duo is originally from Italy and made the trip all the way back for the purpose of shooting this video. Read more about their inspiration and process below.

Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?

Tempesta: I first met the actress/director Esther Elisha in 2018 when she asked me to talk, as a multiethnic actress working in Italy, to a roundtable at the Venice Days 2018. She then started to involve me in a film project that dealt about sisterhood between people apparently so different from each other.

mmmatic: Tempesta and I both thought that working on the ‘Always Better’ music video with her would have been a great way to start exploring this project together. When we presented her this idea she immediately jumped on the opportunity.

 

What was the inspiration behind this video (visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

Tempesta: The song is inspired by the feelings of separation. It’s about the never-ending traveling journey that is life. Elisha took these concepts and put them into visuals with the help of cinematographer Camilla Cattabriga, whilst incorporating the concept of sisterhood.

What was the process of making this video? 

Tempesta: After finishing the pre-production between August and September 2019, I booked a flight to go to Rome to shoot in the quirky neighborhood of Villaggio Olimpico. The whole trip lasted 5 days, with one day for fitting and scouting, one day for shooting, one day for backup and two days of travel. Personally, it was the first time I left mmmatic home alone with our 11 months old  baby, which was both liberating (it was literally the first time I was alone in 11 whole months) as well as nerve-wrecking.

mmmatic: It was quite a challenge for me since I was completely on my own – both our families live in Italy – but I’m proud of how I contributed to the realization of the video, allowing Tempesta to fully focus on her acting and producing jobs.

Tempesta: Everything went extremely well on set in Rome, with me pumping milk during each break while still dealing with production matters at the same time. It’s the first project formally produced by our production company CabinCrew.

Amelia’s Dream is known for their amazing musical contributions to shows on the major television networks such as CBS, ABC, Disney and MTV. While we’re all feeling the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic they have released a brand new song with accompanying video to pay tribute to those on the frontlines working to save lives every day. Read on to hear more about their inspiration and process of creating this heartfelt video for “Hero.”

Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?

The story of the song came in a vision – a movie went off in my head. I am a channel. Most songs are not “planned.” This is a hard moment for our country and for our world. We have leaders who care more about being bullies and not working for the “people.” We have health insurance that overnight went from $80 to $300 to $2,000 and it got worse. In this moment, we don’t have a Marvel Comics superhero to save us. Inside of us “humans” are any of us a Clark Kent or Diana wonder women out there who can save us from our current, not only health crisis but political and money-hungry driven atmosphere where government seems to “take” from the people and not give to those who vote for them but give to those who pay them off in lobbying? We have broken every Constitutional rule regarding  anyone in public office not being allowed to derive income with their name attached to a business. Over the last 15 years, that rule has been conveniently ignored. It just seems we have lost our way allowing amendments both parties believe in to become skewed. Take the second amendment for instance – we all believe in the right to defend yourself, but why can lobbyists pay off the peoples’ government to allow mentally ill to get machine guns and kill children? That amendment was meant for homeowners and not intended to permit automated weapons FOR ALL. We just seem to have lost our way to protect the people and have term limits on PROFESSIONAL politicians like was originally envisioned by our forefathers, so it removed corruption via money and lobbying.

What was the inspiration behind this video (visuals, storyline, etc.)?

We have personal friends who are frontline workers. Please see the credits at the end of video – it actually NAMES NAMES of who was featured. That is OUR PERSONAL mail man, the video starts with Adam’s middle school friend’s mom Thandie in blue & yellow. Our neighbor’s son is the fireman. We wanted to pay tribute to, not only to people who HAD to go to work in the pandemic, but CHOSE to go to save lives. It’s the old saying “when we all run out of buildings from a fire the fireman runs INTO the building.” Doctors, firemen, post office workers, supermarket employees etc. all have families and chose to keep America & NY going strong in the pandemic. We are devastated by our city closing down. We can’t FIX the problem but maybe this is a small tiny Band-Aid emotionally. We wanted to honor this moment and those who have sacrificed for us all.

What was the process of making this video?

We called our friends who are first responders and photographers (credits on the video at the end) and asked if they had photos they took that they would like to share to honor our city & front line workers. We wanted to honor THEM as well. Some are photos I took since I sell real estate. I had a lot of NY photos. Harold is a teacher – he had a ton of photos from bike riding downtown, the tons of Bounty, masks etc. were our own piles of emergency stock piled we created (we didn’t even remember to include the Purell). We took all the photos and reduced about 300 pictures to about 50 to 100 (I haven’t actually counted). Harold lined it up with the music since he is a music producer and has great technical skills.