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.
After a string of visually striking and concept driven singles, Reeya Banerjee brings things home both literally and figuratively with the music video for “Upstate Rust,” the fourth and final release ahead of her upcoming album This Place set for release on August 22nd, 2025.
Filmed at Lorien Sound in Brooklyn, the video captures Banerjee and her band The Merseyside Darby in their natural habitat – laughing, sweating and absolutely living inside the music.
Unlike the stylized visuals of her previous singles, this video opts for raw honesty and full band energy, spotlighting the chemistry, connection and joy that fuel Banerjee’s live performances.
It’s a fitting choice for a track that closes the album with heart and clarity.
We sat down with Reeya to talk about the story behind the song, and the decision to film a stripped down performance.
1. Tell us the story of this song – why did you choose to visualize this song specifically in this way?
Upstate Rust is the closing track on my album This Place, and in many ways, it’s the emotional resolution.
It’s a song about leaving a place you’ve loved – not with regret, but with trust, love and a little bit of fear. It’s about grown-up decisions, emotional survival and believing that what you’ve built can last, even when the geography changes.
The three singles before this had quirky, stylized videos – animation, photo essays, rogue guerrilla no-permit filming in Grand Central.
With Upstate Rust, I wanted to do something totally different. I wanted to showcase my band, The Merseyside Darby, because this song feels like a full-band anthem. Even though they didn’t record it with me originally, they’ve learned it, owned it, and made it their own.
This video is a celebration of that live energy – of how much fun we have together in the room. It’s the first time we’re all on screen together, and it felt like the right way to bring this song to life.
2. What was the inspiration behind this new video (visuals, storyline, etc.)?
The inspiration was really simple: let’s just show the band being the band. Upstate Rust is a big, reverb-heavy, U2-flavored banger, and it’s also my favorite song on the record. We wanted to show what it actually feels like to play it together – no gimmicks, no heavy storyline, just real joy and connection.
We shot the video at Lorien Sound in Brooklyn, which is a studio run by my lead guitarist James Rubino and his business partners Austin Birdy and Jack Quigley. Our rehearsal space is the live room at the studio, and Jack also directed the video. We pumped the master track through the PA and performed it together thirteen times – close-ups of everyone, wide shots of the room, no lip-sync fakery, just full-out playing.
Jack’s footage captured our chemistry and the joy we feel making music together. Luke Folger, our drummer (also my creative partner, co-writer, and the producer and composer for the record) is a beast on drums and has a smile that could light up a room. He’s a full-on beam of sunshine.
There’s a moment where I’m singing along with Daria Klotz, my bass player, and we’re just in the moment together. I’ve known her for ten years – we’ve sung in harmony together in so many bar bands and performances and other contexts, and it was lovely to capture that shared history on camera.
Sam Levine is our rhythm guitarist and the newest member of the band. He’s incredibly talented and smart, and a bit shy – but by the end of the shoot, he was rocking out and singing along, and it was just so endearing to watch him come into his own.
My favorite part is in the final chorus where James and I are literally jumping up and down together. We’ve also known each other for ten years – he’s my ride-or-die best friend. It felt like having a dance party with my little brother. Neither of us are spring chickens – we both have bad knees – so it was probably a terrible idea, but we couldn’t resist. At one point, James’s hat flew off mid-jump and he kicked it toward Sam, who had to duck to avoid being beaned in the face. We could not stop laughing. I’m almost sad that moment didn’t make the final cut.
3. What was the process of making the video?
This was honestly one of the most fun and relaxed shoots I’ve ever done. We met at Lorien Sound, and Jack set up a click track for Luke so we could stay locked in with the master. Then we ran the song thirteen times – two close-up takes for each band member, and three full-room passes to capture the in-between moments and the group dynamic.
The goal wasn’t perfection – it was connection. We weren’t trying to make a slick, overly produced performance video – but that said, what Jack delivered is the most polished of the four videos I’ve made to support the singles from This Place.
We wanted to show what it actually feels like to rehearse this song: sweaty, joyful, slightly chaotic, and deeply connected.
Debo Ray is well known for her powerhouse vocals, and for her ability to command stage presence, but with her latest single “Take That,” the Boston based artist opens a new chapter. Vulnerable, raw and fearless, the song marks a turning point in her music journey – one where personal history, healing and musical innovation come together.
In this exclusive interview, Debo shares the story behind “Take That,” the emotionals that shaped its lyrics, and the process of bringing her past and present selves together on screen.
Filmed in collaboration with Vano Projects, the music video captures the emotional weight of childhood memory, the struggle to reclaim identity and the ultimate act of self liberation.
Watch the Official Music Video here:
1.Tell us the story of this song. Why did you choose to visualise this song specifically in this way?
“Take That” is about reclaiming your power. It’s about what happens when you face down your past, especially the parts that tried to define you, and choose to stand in your truth anyway. I (and my writing partners Jerry Velona and Prince Charles Alexander) wrote this song from the perspective of someone who’s walked through emotional fire and come out the other side with scars and strength.
We chose to visualize this story by weaving together my past and present selves: child Debo and adult Debo, because I truly believe our younger selves never leave us. They’re witnesses. They’re roots. They hold the earliest versions of our dreams. Showing both timelines in the video allowed us to bring that emotional journey to life. I wanted people to feel the transformation.
The video team at Vano Projects helped us bring this vision to life with so much creativity and care, even within the constraints of an indie artist budget (which, let’s be real, is always a part of the puzzle!). We shot everything in just a day and a half across three nearby locations, and somehow, it all came together like magic.
2. What was the inspiration behind this video? (visuals, storyline etc.)
I’m a first-generation Haitian-American, raised in a deeply religious and traditional household. My upbringing was filled with music (both my parents are gifted singers and instrumentalists) but it was also filled with strict expectations, unspoken tension, and emotional volatility. My father had a temper that shaped a lot of my early experiences with fear, shame, and silence. Those patterns followed me, even into adulthood.
For years, I buried that part of my story. I thought if I just kept performing, kept achieving, I could outrun the pain. But when I began writing this album, I knew I had to be honest. “Take That” became a turning point: a declaration. Not of vengeance, but of truth. A way of saying: This happened. It shaped me. But it doesn’t own me anymore.
The visuals reflect that healing arc. There’s resistance, confrontation, but ultimately, release. And that’s the legacy I want to build; not one of hiding pain, but transforming it.
3. What was the process of making the video?
Creating with Bojan and Laura of Vano Projects is always a joy. They’re not just brilliant visual storytellers, they’re collaborators who really see me. We’ve done several videos together now, and they understand my vision, my aesthetic, and my need to tell the whole story from styling, setting, emotion, all of it.
Jerry (my husband, co-writer, and creative partner) and I brought them a loose concept rooted in the lyrics: this idea of a young girl running toward herself. I told them I was finally ready to show more of what I’d been holding back. From there, the four of us sculpted the vision: Laura sourced the two phenomenal actors — Jaelyn Francis, who played little me, and Jimmy Jules, who played my father — and Bojan found the main location. Jerry suggested the Harvard Stadium for the final running shots, which gave the video that haunting sense of endurance and triumph.
We shot most of it in one powerful, emotional day and wrapped up with a quick sunrise shoot at the stadium. The result is something that feels both deeply personal and universally human. It’s one of the bravest things I’ve ever created.
Modern Mystery 