In his latest release, “Angels on Our Shoulders,” composer Marco Di Stefano melds orchestral grandeur with cinematic storytelling to honor the heroes of World War II. It is also a stark reminder that the shadow of conflict persists even today.
A track from his upcoming album Far Inside, this piece captures the emotion of heroism through live orchestral performance, layered with modern instrumentation and brought vividly to life in a compelling new video.
We spoke with Di Stefano about the inspiration behind the song, the creative choices in visualizing it and the intricate process of bringing both music and story together.
From conducting a live brass ensemble to incorporating AI generated imagery of soldiers amid the ruins of war, this interview reveals how he bridges past and present, history and emotion in a work that is as cinematic as it is profoundly human.
Watch here:
1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?
This song tells the story of heroes and honors the fallen ones of World War II, therefore I wanted to evoke classic movies such as “Saving Private Ryan” with specific color grades and introducing some AI generated clips of soldiers staring at the destruction of war.
2. What was the inspiration behind this new video (visuals, storyline, etc.)?
Even if World War II is a century beyond us, war is present in our modern world.
This song is composed using a modern language and instrumentation that evokes the spirit of that era and drama. The video starts with footage from the live recording of the orchestra where I personally conducted the brass section.
It ends with clips of soldiers starting at the destruction of war, while the music evokes past memories from the battles.
3. What was the process of making the video?
The video was recorded during a live session with a brass orchestra. The other instruments, from strings to percussion and synth, were added in post production using sample libraries, therefore I used footage from another recording session for the intro.
The final footage of the soldiers was created using AI, I wanted them to make clear to the viewer the context of this song.
With its emotion and frenetic energy, “Shallow” stands as one of Animals in Denial’s most striking and personal songs.
Written by Christian Ines during a tumultuous and destructive relationship, the track captures the chaos of love that is built on lies, obsession and abandonment.
Now paired with a haunting new video directed by Jon Paul Anderson, “Shallow” plunges viewers directly into Ines’s headspace – a first person descent into a relationship unraveling in real time.
We sat down with Christian to talk about the story behind the song, the inspiration for the visuals and how a chance discovery on YouTube led to a creative partnership that brought his vision vividly to life.
Watch the Official Music Video to “Shallow” here:
1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?
Well I wrote the song when I was going through a horrible relationship. It was full of drama and part way through I started to realize that this was just some sort of game and that the feelings she claimed to have for me, were completely shallow. It was one of those songs I knew I wanted to have a visual component ie video for, but I was a bit stuck at how to do it.
I wanted it to convey the vibe of where my head was at, and to make a person watching feel like they were a fly on the wall in my head. So the choice to visualize this way was really me finding the right video maker with the right eye and sense of frenetic clarity. The director/maker Jon Paul Anderson, and I hit it off and he completely understood the vision and really fleshed it out more and really nailed it. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to take the lead on the project.
2. What was the inspiration behind this new video (visuals, storyline, etc.)?
As far as the inspiration for the new video, it was always a song I wanted to have a video for, as it’s really meant to look like you’re inside of my head while I’m going through a relationship that’s really just a train wreck in disguise. I wanted it to feel frenetic yet clear, as during that time and relationship hot and cold can’t even begin to describe it. One minute you’re feeling like you and this person can withstand the weight of the world, and others you don’t even know if she likes you. I wanted it to also convey a feeling of loneliness or more like abandonment as that’s what I was feeling when I wrote the song.
So the video takes a first person view, to try to make you feel like you’re me and going through the motions of something even though you know in your gut something isn’t quite right. Me and the director went back and forth over email and then he went to work filming and editing and what he turned in needed no revisions. I loved it when I saw it and thought he completely nailed it. I hope you like it.
3. What was the process of making the video?
The process for the video wasn’t mine, but it was basically me and the director going back and forth over email. I started looking for cool music videos on YouTube and found a really talented YouTuber named Jon Paul Anderson. He did a video for a nine inch nails song, called “Vessel” that I was blown away by. I reached out to the guy and we hit it off chatting and so I then told him I had a song I really thought his approach would be perfect for if he was interested. He said to send him the track and I’ll let you know. He came back super enthusiastic, and asked if I had any ideas, I replied with what I was thinking about being a fly on the wall inside of my head.
He followed up with me quickly, that he had some footage that he thought would be perfect he also had some ideas for some stuff he could shoot to add. The end result was something I was beyond proud of.
As climate change accelerates and the planet edges toward catastrophe, there are few artists willing to confront the crisis with complete honesty. Revvnant, led by Eliphaz Costus, formerly the drummer ofThe Flying Eyes and Black Lung, has always blurred genre boundaries drawing from trip-hop, dream pop, industrial and doom to create immersive and emotionally charged soundscapes.
His latest single “Rise”, with a striking visualizer by artist Morgan Beringer, channels fear, despair and urgency into a haunting meditation on environmental collapse.
In this feature, Eliphaz walks us through the beginnings of the song, and the process of collaborating with Beringer to translate its themes into a trippy, morphing visual experience.
Watch the visualizer to “Rise” here:
1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?
“Rise” is purely about the existential threat of climate change, witnessing the chaos, and how bearing witness affects me emotionally. It’s a complex mix of fear, despair, rage, and eventually apathy to be able to move forward with the day. The tone of the song treads the line between hopelessness, and a call to action…We need to rise up to stop this madness and save our planet.
2. What was the inspiration behind this new video (visuals, storyline, etc.)?
I worked with an incredible video artist from the UK named Morgan Beringer (https://www.morganberinger.com/), and I let him run with it. After explaining themes of the song, he came up with the concept of using idyllic images of healthy nature devolving into degraded, industrial landscapes. This worked really well with his signature, trippy style where visuals bloom and morph into each other.
3. What was the process of making the video?
That was pretty much all Morgan Beringer’s doing. I gave a few notes here and there, but mostly I stepped aside and let him do his thing. Which I was happy to do after how hard I had already worked on the music.
Every band has a song that feels like a turning point, and for San Diego indie group Poems, that moment arrived with “Afterparty”.
Equal parts anxious confession and electrified catharsis, the track has quickly become their live closer and a fan favorite. Now, with a brand new video directed by rising LA filmmaker Christopher Shaibi, the song has taken on a vivid new life, one that mirrors the tension of dressing up for the night, only to feel like an outsider the second you walk through the door.
Poems are a band unafraid to dig into vulnerability, pulling from their own struggles with identity, prescription medication and the heavy fog of anxiety that often lingers around young adulthood. Yet their music never wallows.
Instead, it channels those insecurities into commanding vocals, raw emotion and the kind of guitar driven textures that recall early 2000’s indie icons while carving out something distinctly their own.
We sat down with the band to talk about the making of the Afterparty video, the influences that shaped its story and how this release signals where Poems are heading next.
Watch the Official Music Video for “Afterparty” here:
1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?
Afterparty was born from memories of the past, being an adolescent wallflower at every party attended. It’s about that feeling of wanting to break out of your shell and be that person you want to be, but crippling anxiety taking hold of you in every moment. We chose to visualize the song this way to really showcase what it’s like being in that constant state of living in your own head. Imagine dressing your absolute best for the party, only to arrive feeling like you have to pretend to be someone just to get through the night.
2. What was the inspiration behind this new video (visuals, storyline, etc.)?
We definitely pulled some inspiration from some of our favorite music videos. Over the years, we really loved staying up to date with Interpol and The 1975’s style of storytelling through visuals. We didn’t want to divulge too much of the storyline through the visuals alone, but leave a more broad landscape of what they song is trying to convey.
3. What was the process of making the video?
We were able to get in contact with a really awesome video creator by the name of Christopher Shaibi in LA. He has worked with some heavy hitters in the industry as he is really starting to make a name for himself, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work with him.
We rented out a studio in LA for the day and dug in. We were able to give Chris a rough outline of how we wanted to final product to look, and he far exceeded our expectations! It was so fun to see our song vision come to life!
With its bittersweet lyricism and warm Americana tone, George Collins’s “By the Time” has already earned praise as one of his most evocative tracks to date.
Now, the newly released music video gives the song a cinematic heartbeat, placing Collins in a dimly lit Prague steakhouse as he strums, sings and pens a final farewell letter to a soon-to-be ex.
Directed by Thomas Cruz and Jarda Malina, and featuring a cameo by Max Munson – the real-life owner of Max’s Steakhouse – this video is full of intimate details. From the half-finished whiskey glass to the knowing glances of a friendly bartender.
Look closer, and you’ll even spot a Dave Matthews Band poster tucked into the scenery, a nod to one of Collins’s lifelong inspirations, and hear his previous single Open Up drifting faintly in the background.
In this conversation, Collins opens up about the song’s origins, the creative choices behind the video and why capturing its acoustic, roots-driven soul on screen was just as important as getting every chord change right.
Watch the Official Music Video here:
Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?
I came up with the riff while I was noodling around on my acoustic guitar many years ago, and it immediately struck me as extremely catchy.
The opening line, “By the time you’ll be getting ’round to reading this,” popped into my head at the same time, as those lyrics seemed to fit the riff very well in rhythmic terms.
I filed it away for a long time and started writing the song in earnest last year.
The chord changes are quite interesting, full of unresolved tension by deliberately moving outside the key and employing lots of seventh chords, to match the troubled tone of the lyrics.
From the outset, I was hearing the influence of Tom Petty on this tune, and when I started working with my producer to bring the song to life in the studio, I specifically suggested we aim for a similar Americana vibe as Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers,” which was produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, who is an absolute genius and one of my favorite producers.
As we developed the track, the influence of other great songwriters such as Chris Stapleton, Steve Earle, Johnny Cash, George Strait, Ray Davies (one of the finest storytellers in all of music) and Jimmy Buffett (ditto) also became apparent.
Although I have written almost all my songs on my acoustic guitar, this is the first fully produced acoustic track that I have released. In the past, we took my acoustic demos and fleshed them out with a band in the studio, and I have recorded stripped-down acoustic versions of my previous singles, but this is the first time I deliberately kept the track close to its acoustic roots, to better capture the Americana/Outlaw Country vibe of the song. So you’ll hear many influences in this song, but I also hope that “By the Time” is recognizably me.
What was the inspiration behind this new video (visuals, storyline, etc.)?
In my mind’s eye I imagined a scene like that of the cover art for Led Zeppelin’s last studio album, “In Through the Out Door,” in which a man is sitting on a stool in a dingy dive bar burning a “Dear John” letter.
With the phrase “By the time you’ll be getting ’round to reading this” in my head, I realized that the narrator of my song would not be reading or burning a “Dear John” letter, but rather writing one to his soon-to-be-Ex.
In a bar, of course.Once I imagined the scenario, the lyrics flowed quite naturally — fortunately, and unlike most of my other songs, this one has no autobiographical connotations whatsoever!
What was the process of making the video?
One of my closest friends in Prague, Max Munson, owns Max’s Steakhouse, a classic steakhouse modeled on those from his native Chicago.
He runs a lot of great ads for his establishment, which are created in conjunction with Thomas Cruz of Thomas Cruz Studio and Jarda Malina of Moneyshot Studio in Prague.
Once I decided that I wanted a live music video for “By the Time” (rather than the animated lyric videos for my other tracks to date), and that I wanted it to be shot in a bar, I knew that Max’s Steakhouse would be the perfect location, and that Thomas and Jarda, with their previous experience of filming in the Steakhouse, would be perfect for creating this video.
I met with Thomas several times to discuss the song and exchange ideas for the video, and I invited Max to make a cameo appearance as the friendly bartender. We agreed early on that there would be two major features of the video: Me singing the song with my guitar, and me writing the letter at the bar.
I arrived early at the Steakhouse early on a Saturday morning, when the restaurant was closed. Thomas and Jarda were already setting up lights in the main dining room, and I helped move tables and chairs away to clear a space for my solo performance. I’d brought several of my guitars and a variety of shirts, which Thomas tested under the lights before choosing a creamy color that would match the warm hues of the room.
With Jarda handling the lights, I sat on a barstool and sang “By the Time” over and over as Thomas filmed me from a variety of angles – I probably played the song fifty times before Thomas was satisfied that he had enough to work with.
Then we moved into the barroom. Max and I chose a bottle of Elijah Craig as a prop – I actually drank apple juice during the filming, though Max did have to pour several glasses of whiskey so we could show the bottle getting progressively emptier. I enjoyed those glasses, however, only after the filming was completed.
I had written several versions of the lyrics on parchment, each showing the “letter” in various stages of completion. Again, with Jarda manning the lights, Thomas filmed me from numerous angles as I sat and sipped and wrote and pondered: Close-ups of my hand moving across the page, close-ups of me stroking my chin and staring off into space, long shots of Max carrying a rack of glasses from the kitchen to the bar before offering me a refill of my bourbon.
Overall, we must have filmed for eight hours for what was eventually edited into a video that clocks in under four minutes.
In the editing process, Thomas had the brilliant idea to have my previous single, “Open Up,” playing in the background as I’m sitting at the bar. That song, about remaining vulnerable and open to love in spite of disappointments, is the perfect setup for “By the Time,” which is ultimately about liberation and moving hopefully into the future.
I am grateful to Thomas, Jarda and Max for capturing this vibe and helping me bring my song to life so beautifully.
Fresh off a string of high-profile shows and the release of their emotionally charged single “Threshold”, Portland, Maine’s Moments Of are proving they’re not just riding the emo revival wave. They are helping shape it.
With a sound that bridges early 2000’s emo and the grit of modern alternative rock, the band has quickly built a reputation for delivering high energy performances that stick with you.
In this exclusive interview, the band opens up about the creative process behind their “Threshold” Official Music Video – why they chose a performance driven concept over a narrative, how nostalgia for the late ’90s and early 2000’s shaped its aesthetic, and what it was like shooting under the intense glow (and heat) of vintage stage lighting:
1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?
We really thought long and hard about the direction we wanted to take as a band for the Threshold music video. The talk of building a narrative story behind the video was had but we really thought that due to the energy of the song and our timeline to get it done by that a high energy performance video would be best for Threshold. We also wanted to bring high quality, and a high energy performance video back to the scene as a cornerstone for our new music and sound. And when people see us live, we bring that same energy, so we wanted people anywhere in the world to be able to get a sense of that from Threshold.
2. What was the inspiration behind this new video (visuals, storyline, etc.)?
For us a lot of the inspiration comes from the late 90’s early 2000’s videos not just music videos but entertainment and tv in general. The warm feeling and soft focus bring in those themes that you’d see on tv back then and also plays on many techniques how soap operas were shot. Giving off that heaven like feeling. The set being well lit and showing the gear, flight cases, rigging around gives it that feeling of watching a band at a theater or opera house where you would see rigging, cases, amps in the background.
3. What was the process of making the video?
The making of Threshold was done in a soundstage environment where we had full control of the space. The decision was made to use older tungsten film and stage lights to really play into the theme we wanted and to be immersed in the set. Warm, cozy, heavenly, euphoric even and the focus would just be the band well-lit and slamming hard. We shot the video setup to takedown in about 5-6 hours. Of course, we did many takes of the video individually and full band during that window to get the shots we needed. It was challenging at times dealing with old school stage and film lights as they admit a crazy amount of heat, so staying hydrated was key and avoiding knocking over or brushing up against lights and stands because everything was hot enough to cook food on. But we think it was the right move once we saw the finished video! Threshold is a raw and basic take on a well-lit and shot performance music video that will be timeless and invoke feelings from a simpler era in music.
Modern Mystery 
You must be logged in to post a comment.