Dear Artist: Behind The Music Video

The video clip to "Dear Artist" is the first time that I have discussed any of my songs at any great length publicly. There are a few factors that I feel I should address to put you in the picture before viewing the "Dear Artist" video clip with the idea of increasing your insight and enjoyment of the track.

I'm a recovering alcoholic. I have been sober for several years now. I suspect that I was an alcoholic since I took my first drink. I reacted to alcohol differently to other people. I could drink much more and yet cause no harm to others....any direct harm that is. The severity of my abuse led to numerous alcoholic seizures. Once a person experiences a seizure, they remain prone to seizures for the rest of their lives; alcohol induced or not.

I had been sober for two years and gave the aforementioned alcoholic seizures no thought as I had been put on medication to help prevent them. At around 7pm. one evening I began to feel 'odd.' As my former seizures were alcohol induced, I had no recollection of any aura that often surrounds gran mal seizures. I took myself to bed. Approximately an hour later (according to my parents) I had a seizure. They were alerted by me slamming against my bedroom wall. The seizure lasted approximately 15 minutes.

After each seizure I can recall feeling 'odd.' On this occasion I can recall spending the night listening to the rain and trying to escape the odd sensation that I was experiencing. I tried to visualise a calming scene. It took me some time to reach a scene that my mind was happy with.

The scene ended up as a French cobble-stoned street. It was in black and white. I took this image one step further and pictured how this scene came about. In my minds eye I came up with an artist painting this scene from a second storey window, so I was actually picturing a scene upon a scene. It sat very well with me. It sat so well with me that I was able to get to sleep. The following morning, I had the lyrics that you hear on the video below written in the space of about 15 minutes.


The 'scene' of the video was, to my mind, a stroke of genius by Haych Storm. I think the various 'displaced' paintings in the background of the video really capture the confusion of "Dear Artist." The 'jaunty' beat & uplifting lyrics of the chorus, from comments received, act as a perfect counterpoint to the more serious & cynical nature of the verses.

The video clip is obviously mimed. Haych suggested wearing headphones purely as a prop. My initial response was "What?" She thought that I wasn't keen on the idea. The fact is, I was so blown away by the idea that I was half-shocked. 

It worked a treat. "Dear Artist" became the first track on my "Mean Business" album.


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