(All photos by and courtesy of Scarlet Lewis)
Today, FANGORIA is proud to premiere Vision Video's new short film/music video "In My Side," directed by 2023 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards editor Elwood Walker. We think it's pretty great, and we bet you'll agree! An exclusive set report by Fango's Blayne Waterloo follows below the video.
Following Vision Video’s Instagram post announcing a music video shoot/free concert, calling for “20-30 people to stick around for a few hours to be put in makeup and turned into DEMONS by professional makeup artists who worked on The Walking Dead,” I headed to the legendary 40 Watt Club in Athens, Ga. for a sneak peek.
The video for “In My Side” begins in classic horror movie fashion: the band members of Vision Video, driving through some very spooky woods on their way to a performance, hit a haggard-looking witch (Lou Lou Duchese De Riere, under some incredible makeup by Hailey Trifiro) with their hearse. The witch hexes the band, who continue on to the gig — where all hell breaks loose, and where our set visit begins.
On this September night The 40 Watt Club, lousy with ghouls, colored lights, and fog, vibrates with the same excitement and energy one might experience at a haunted attraction, but with killer music added to the mix. Bursts of the featured song blare from the club’s speakers as the video’s director, 23-year-old Elwood Walker, mills around the stage with various team members.
“In My Side” was first recorded for Vision Video's 2020 debut album Inked in Red, but has been re-imagined and re-recorded for the band's upcoming album Modern Horror. Lead singer, songwriter, and (for today, at least) music video producer Dusty Gannon takes a break from singing and fighting off possessed concertgoers to provide some insight. Inspired by ‘80s movies like Demons and Return of the Living Dead, Gannon says the song itself called for a creepy video.
“The song is inherently horror-themed in content,” the 36-year-old singer-songwriter says. “I wrote this song originally when I was grappling with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder. I had these inclinations that there was something wrong with my brain and how I process the world.” Gannon’s previous life involved a career in the military (including a tour in Afghanistan) and a stateside stint as a firefighter and EMT. His experiences (and the aforementioned PTSD) inform the band’s entire catalog, and “In My Side” is no different. “It’s a simple song but it’s still meaningful for me, and it may be for a lot of other people. Because it’s all about being part of something that’s not good for you, but you still feel connected to it, and you still feel drawn to it.”
Gannon quit firefighting about a year ago to pursue music full-time, and the lyrics of “In My Side” delve into fending off the pangs he feels to return to a more unpredictable, high-stakes environment.
“There’s this sort of killer that the song alludes to in a nebulous way,” he says. “I can’t get away from it, but I’m also attracted to it. That’s kind of how I felt about the military and the fire department, and being around trauma. I’m very good at being around chaos, and being calm when everything goes to hell.”
I can tell. He seems at home on a busy set.
Sitting back, I watch Walker and Director of Photography Bennett Barbosa move in sync with each other, stopping every so often to regroup and talk to their different subjects. Keyboardist Emily Fredock, doused in blood and sporting horrifying makeup, knocks out a closeup scene in which she’s gone full demon, complete with white eye contacts which require other crew members to guide her around stage. Elsewhere in the video, drummer Jason Fusco takes out a couple of demons via drumsticks, while eagle-eyed viewers will spot bassist Dan Geller reading FANGORIA on the way to the band's cursed gig in the music video’s opening scene. (Thanks for the product placement, Dan!)
The enthusiasm and giddiness are palpable — and impressive considering the band’s been touring consistently for the past several months. Their packed schedule allows them to make music full-time, but it comes with a cost. Gannon, for example, is running on two hours of sleep today, but he possesses a seemingly bottomless well of energy, with all the punch-drunk gusto of someone doing what they love.
“One thing that’s been amazing this past year is that the music I write is therapy for me first, and then it becomes therapeutic and cathartic for a lot of other people, and that’s so genuinely grounding and exciting to me,” Gannon says. “Because I feel like I’m truly helping people.”
Walker’s excitement over directing the video couldn’t be higher. His previous horror shorts, Kissed and The Rule of Three, primed him for the task, and this project seemed tailor-made for him.
“I’ve been dying to make a music video in between some of my bigger upcoming projects,” Walker says. “I really wanted to direct something that took my passion for horror filmmaking and injected it into a big, gonzo music video with lots of blood, practical effects, and demon ass-kicking, all while still feeling like a fun dance party set to the song. And then Vision Video came to me with this music video, and it was the perfect opportunity to do all of that in one!”
Both Gannon and Walker gush over the other’s talent and are quick to credit the gifted band and crew in their respective capacities to bring an even more specific image to the screen.
“I wanted it to be an homage to Bava and Argento and all these crazy horror icons, but never being super heavy on one. I also wanted it to be its own kind of miniature horror movie that had its own identity — so that’s where Elwood really came in,” Gannon says. “He’s definitely a vital piece of these multi-faceted stages of creating this idea and making it real.”
Walker adds his own appreciation for the rest of the team, saying, “Things came together pretty quickly as we built up our monster squad of makeup effects artists, led by the amazing Hailey Trifiro from The Exorcist: Believer, and a horde of stunt performers from The Walking Dead to play our bloodthirsty demons that battle the band and rave in the crowd.”
Before long, the requested demons filter onto the dance floor, and everything — the band, the club, the ghouls — lights up. It’s the energy of radical acceptance and individuality that many horror fans turn to the genre for. But the music video is radical in its own right, encouraging viewers to apply what they’ve learned from those movies to real life.
“I guess the overall theme is if you don’t pay attention, you will reap what you sow,” says Gannon. “There are people who’ve been marginalized who have been saying this the whole time, and we’re just now listening to them. There’s a lot of grief and horror and angst in that — real grief and horror and angst.”
You can catch Vision Video live at one of their upcoming tour dates, and you can read more about the band in the current issue of FANGORIA.
CAST
The Witch - Lou Lou Duchese De Riere
Goth Demon - Kenneth Ford
Drumstick Demon - Rick Shoemaker
Temp Demon - Donald Young
Keyboard Demon - Chelsea Reuter
Dancing Demon - Kirk Riley
Bass Killer Demon - Serenity Rosalia
Possessed Demon - Chelle Leary
Greenroom Demon 1 - Sadie Pena
Greenroom Demon 2- Christian Wojnar
Greenroom Demon 3 - Jonathan Brown
Vision Video - Emily Fredock, Jason Fusco, Dusty Gannon, Dan Geller
CREW
Director: Elwood Quincy Walker
Director of Photography: Bennett Barbosa
Executive Producer: Elwood Quincy Walker
Producer: Dusty Gannon
Edited by: Elwood Quincy Walker and Eden Ashkenazi
VFX & Sound Design: Eden Ashkenazi
Opening Horror Score by: Alexander Taylor
SFX Makeup Team
Lead Artist - Hailey Trifiro
Assistant Lead Artist - Kyle Yaklin
Artist - Tatiana Hayton
Artist- Lainey Auwarter
Artist- Leslie Rosado
Prop Master - Rene Arriagada
Stunt Coordinator: Kirk Riley
Production Assistant: Tom Ashton
Hearse Wrangler: Christina Bacon
Additional Crew: Joe Cat and 40 Watt Club sound engineering staff
Special thanks to:
The 40 Watt Club Staff and Management, and the concert goers of Athens, Georgia
Ryan Turek for helping make the shoot a reality
