videos in the dark v1.1

This is a blast from the recent past.  Sort of.  So far in my career as a vocalist, I've been extremely blessed with a partner-in-art who is as much of a renaissance man as I am a renaissance woman. One of his many, many talents is in the art of video.  To date, he has directed & produced 4 videos for songs for the Black Beckee album I released in February.  I pretty much really, really like them.  Yes, that is an understatement.  Things spin & float & fly, & so do I.  Lots of colors & lots of light.  To me, they're kind of like a pretty good example of the kind of videos a super creative person who really took the time to get to know me well might make.  Which is awesome to find in this business, what with all the politics.  And let's face it, video gave birth to the internet dom.  The songs are sung; the eyes listen, too.

So here they are, in chronological order, with a bit of off the cuff commentary that will probably be different from whatever I say about them a month or two from now.  Or more.  Or less.

enjoy the journey:

one.


so as a caption to this one, i'll just say that this joint is a special one because it's the bridge from hazel black of the tao of slick to megan livingston. it's a bit of a time capsule for me; it describes a point in my life that is somewhat different from where i am now. one of the benefits of diy art is that it creates restore points for the most yummy kinds of nostalgia.  through the song, i am transported, & so might the listener be.  through the video, the transformation is metastatized, & off we go to the nether regions of our shared body.  in this, i have an opportunity to celebrate how generous life is for creating situations one simply must convert into song, & songs that must be converted into video, if only to listen to and/or view later for a good chuckle or smirk.

two.


this is the out of place, out of touch, out of time, out of luck, out of fear, out of hope, dammit-i-better-just-get-in-the-tub-with-my-clothes-on video. need i say more?  it's also the video with the killer icicles. which isn't funny if you've ever been awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of a 20-lbs icicle crashing onto the roof outside your window, or if you saw that grey's anatomy episode when christina was impaled by such an icicle.

three.


little known fact: both of the scarves i rock in this video were made by my little woman-child hands. far lesser known fact: both were stolen from people i know, either actually or in theory. need more explanation? the grey scarf in the alley scene was made as a birthday present for my brother a couple of years ago. sometime between escaping to & from my parents' house during a brief stint back in the womb, i took it from him & started wearing it everywhere, including the day we got this shot! the cream/taupe scarf in the driving scene was a holiday gift for a homie, knit during the fall after the aforementioned escape to nj. i said i'd mail it as soon as i sewed the ends in, but then somehow didn't get around to that for almost a year & a half. i made plans towards the end of the following winter to meet up with said friend in queens, brought the scarf (along with a needle for sewing the ends, because of course i still hadn't done it), & once it became apparent that i still wasn't going to get around to it (what with all the hipster vibes warming the icy astoria night), promptly asked him if i could borrow it for a video shoot, to which he obviously said yes. for the record, neither recipient has yet seen his gift since, which leaves me wondering what exactly a gift is.  maybe one day i'll make you a scarf that you can lend back to me sometime.

other important thing to note about this video is the fact that i am a world-class, tried & true, rigorously tested & defending, driver of automobiles. i've taken on the roads in more states than i can count, & that is without the district of columbia (where i've also driven exhaustively, paid hundreds, possibly thousands in parking fees & destroyed at least one cars hopes of old age through acute pothole disorder).  if you need to get there, ask me.  but don't, because sometimes i need a break from the open road.  if you must ask, offer to do half the driving or feed me snacks along the way.

four.


i like this one because it's happy. the sun, the sun, the sun is my supporting cast of characters, along with one of our most brilliant sister-ancestors (if you don't know who, get to the library & ask somebody). shooting this video was like being on vacation, in part because i was on vacation! guerilla location style; driving around unfamiliar terrain, guided by equal parts intention, faith & googlemaps. plus, i have on stripes, & a cool shirt that's cool because it wants you to want something because it's right & not because it costs you anything.  i'll leave the discovery of the location for those who really got into carmen sandiego. another important note is how i got on my 21st century ranger rick vibe & observed, recorded & catalogued my first broadhead skink.


videos in the dark has been brought to you by black beckee aka beckee black.  ahem.  more to come.