With his new single, “Hurt A Bird,” St. Catharines-based artist Joe Lapinski delivers a fierce and poignant anthem against intolerance. Rooted in New Wave Rock with a touch of punk spirit, the track channels Lapinski‘s anger toward the adult bullying of transgender and non-binary youth. Lapinski offers a solution: through love and kindness, you too can truly be free as a bird.

Co-produced with Dave Clark (Rheostatics, Gord Downie‘s Country of Miracles), the song’s tight, punchy arrangement emerged through a collaborative effort to refine Lapinski‘s initial, lengthier version. Inspired by late ’70s and early ’80s New Wave icons, “Hurt A Bird” features Elvis Costello-style synths and XTC-inspired basslines, creating a track that is both catchy and emotionally charged.

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

This song is essentially about treating people with love and kindness, even if you don’t know them.  At its core, it is inspired by people in our communities who are more vulnerable, like youth who are trans, LGBTQ+, and marginalized. Folks who are discovering their identities, while having outside forces telling them that they are wrong.  I believe we can all find true freedom through love and kindness.  I might just help someone feel they are more welcome in their community.

We thought this message is an important one, and deserved its story to be turned into a video.  The lyrics are very visual, and could easily be transformed into a bit of a animated short.

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

Hannah Zbitnew is the animator and artist behind this video.  She came up with the concept and story, inspired by my song.  She thought it would be great to actually have a bird as our main character.  Our bird is up against some bad folks, who are trying to cage it and keep it from being free.  The bird’s friends and community find out, and go and free our hero bird. 

The aesthetics of the video are all Hannah.  She has done a lot of 2D stop motion animation work, and thought we could take a similar approach.  Making it an animation let us experiment more with images and colour, making it vibrant and alive.  Perfect for a song about freeing a bird.