Comedy – Modern Mystery

Jeff Hilliard is an award winning video producer and director who’s newest work, “Abandon,” is a visual and musical marvel. His vision for the song couldn’t have been done without a video. This metal ballad and heavy rock song is catchy and easily gets stuck in your head. The video is one that you watch many times to not just listen to the song, but try and find new things with each viewing.

We got a chance to speak with Jeff about his video. Let’s dive in:

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

Well I wanted to do an 80’s metal ballad, I thought it would be funny to tell the story of Dwight a 49 year old Uber driver that still holding onto his 80’s metal fantasy while living at home with his mother. He has a one stand with a married lady and he can’t let it go. While writing the song I knew I had to make a music videos for it, it’s just too good. The only way I good see the video was to make it verbatim to the song.

What was the inspiration behind this video?

I wanted to stick with the classic 80’s metal music video except my hero was not the cool guy.

What was the process of making this video?

They are all pretty much the same… I tell my team it’s time to do another and we set out and make it happen. I work with a brilliant cinematographer John Orphan and editor Bobby Hewitt. We work very well together and have a lot of fun making them.

Watch here:

Connect with Jeff Hilliard
Website // Instagram // Twitter // Facebook // TikTok // YouTube // Spotify

If you haven’t heard of Jeff Hilliard, you may be missing out on a unique talent. This professional comedian, who trained under the folks at Second City in Chicago, has always been interested in being an entertainer and knew from an early age that this was his calling. He’s been in a few indie films, including Paul Schrader’s Dog Eat Dog film starring Nicolas Cage and Willem Defoe, Officer Banks, in Bernard Rose’s award winning film Frankenstein starring Danny Huston, Carrie-Anne Moss, Xavier Samuel, and Tony Todd, and recently starred in Traveling Light along with Stephen Dorff, Tony Todd, and Danny Huston.

His provocative point of view on the dark, twisted reality of modern-day society proves his creativity knows no bounds. His controversial music videos have garnered millions of views and have won numerous awards at many film festivals. His new video and single, “Abandon,” showcases his multi-genre musical ability and genius songwriting.

“Abandon” takes gender norms and flips it on its head. The video depicts a sad and lonely guy stuck in the past, still living with his mom, who’s obsessively calling a woman he hooked up with, Vivian. It immediately points out what society deems as normal, typically a man initiates a one night hook up and he’s generally married while the woman is calling him. He’s also making fun of the toxic masculinity often seen in the 80’s metal culture. He’s looking for love and actually singing about his vulnerability rather than trying to be a “man” like the metal ballads of that time.

Lyrically speaking, the lyrics are funny and made for a visual medium. They easily get stuck in your head as you find yourself singing the chorus doing mundane things. He sings “I ain’t no pump and dump/ I believe in the power of love/ one night is not enough/ how could you abandon our love,” as he’s dressed in outlandish outfits reminiscent of what metal bands would wear. This sad character really thought that he found love. While he’s creepy and not someone you want to hang out with, you do feel a little sorry for him too.

Watch here:

Follow Jeff Hilliard via:
Website // Instagram // Twitter // Facebook // TikTok // YouTube // Spotify