VIDEO PREMIERE & INTERIEW : INTERIORS BY HAWKS DO NOT SHARE
The Hawks Do Not Share music video for "Interiors" will premiere Sunday, September 26th at 1pm PST / 4pm EST on the No Movement Records YouTube channel. Anyone who posts a comment on the "Interiors" video within the first 3 hours of the premiere will be entered in a drawing to win a free HDNS t-shirt and a copy of the HDNS record, A Dream to Hold on To, on vinyl, or CD if you prefer.
The music video was a collaboration between HDNS and the artist Jessie Swanson. Last week GL3 had a conversation with Jessie about the video and his artistic approach.
GL3 (Hawks Do Not Share): We began working on this video just over a year ago, well before vaccines were available, at a time of peak uncertainty about what was safe to do and what wasn't. Prior to that period of isolation, I don’t think I'd ever really considered doing an illustrated music video, but once you started sharing your first sketches, we (the band) got really excited! Was illustrating a music video ever on your radar before? What was it like collaborating on this one?
Jessie Swanson: Illustrating a music video was never on my radar, no. I've seen my fair share of animated and illustrated music videos in my life and always found myself wistfully daydreaming about "maybe someday when I'm a REAL artist". When HDNS approached me with this idea, it was hard to find excuses not to do it. Every artist knows the struggle of being their own worst critic and getting in their own way but the planets aligned with me being in the throes of job hunting during a global pandemic, stuck inside spinning in circles.
I admittedly initially accepted the challenge as a sort of favor to a friend, but as the project started to develop and gain momentum, it became so much more meaningful. I was lucky enough to get an early listen of Interiors, which was sort of a gut-punch at the time of my initial listening with what was going on in the world around us. Being able to channel that emotion into the visual aspects was cathartic and the fact that the illustrations were so well received by everyone in the band was excellent fuel for my fire. Working with y'all is an absolute pleasure, there wasn't ever a moment of regret or doubt on my end about this project.
GL3: Your style really lent itself to bringing the narrative aspects of the lyrics boldly onto the screen in a way that I’m doubtful we could have captured in a live video. Was that challenging? To what degree did you have to explore and expand your normal process to work on this project?
Jessie: I'm usually a pretty solitary creator, using visual mediums to process what I'm dealing with and hoarding my work in a box in the closet, never to see attention or an audience. Going into this knowing it would be visible and perceived at all was probably the hardest aspect but the story you laid out for me was one I wanted to help tell. Creating so many different illustrations with the same consistent style and feel did prove itself to be a challenge, but once I get into the flow and trusted the process, I found a lot of enjoyment and fun with the whole thing.
It had been a hot minute since I spent that much time and effort on paper with ink, I've become a little too reliant on the conveniences of digital-based work over the past few years. As the sketches and concepts were being refined, it felt like I was coming out of hibernation. So many techniques and skills that had become dormant inside of me began to unthaw. After that initial clumsy re-learning, I started diving into techniques with ink washes and markers to emphasize certain areas on the page that were a little more foreign to me. I did feel as though I had to push my own boundaries to achieve what was in my head, but I'm glad that I didn't play it safe. So much of Interiors packs a punch, and I wanted to do it justice with punches of my own.
I did end up building a stand out of scrap wood to hold my phone for recording and an overhead light! That was a challenge in itself, to make sure the light wasn't casting a shadow over the ink lines or making anything too yellow on camera.
GL3: What’s next for you artistically? I’m hearing rumors you might collaborate on a special project for our labelmates We Are Parasols, although I’m not sure if that’s top secret or how much you can share?
Jessie: More than a rumor, my friend! I don't want to give too much away, as I'm still very early in the concept stages but I am beyond thrilled to be working with We Are Parasols for this next project. It's a pretty dramatic shift in styles and tone from what we did for HDNS, but one I am really enjoying diving into. The idea involves a lot of themes and content that are close to on a personal level and they're just fantastic folks. It's going to be bright and bold with a lot of their music stylings directly influencing what lines make it to the page.
Beyond that, I do have some plans in the works to get back into pottery and welding. I may have some studio space available to me in the near future, which would allow me to get out from behind the space saving screen and spread out with larger equipment. I have some large-scale metal sculpture concepts sketched out that I want to make a reality as well as more delicate pottery pieces for home decor. I just like creating things, medium be damned I'll give anything a shot!