By Will Yannacoulias
Photos by Oliver Clarke
After a night of sleepless anticipation, the day has finally come! Saskatoon’s veteran noisy post-punks Slow Down Molasses have teamed up with Calgary filmmakers Oliver Clarke and Deyson Thiara to shoot and produce a video for “Street Haunting”, the lead single from the band’s acclaimed 2021 LP Minor Deaths. Utilizing film shot earlier this year at Calgary’s Big Winter Classic, the dynamic production is a deft reflection of Slow Down Molasses’s exciting and immersive live show. NSMZ spoke exclusively with Tyson McShane, Chrix Morix, Lévi Soulodre and Andrew Taylor about their song, the video, the performance and the filmmakers who captured it all. Enjoy!
“Street Haunting”, the first single from the band’s 2021 album Minor Deaths, almost didn’t make the cut. Former Slow Down Molasses guitarist Aaron Scholz contributed the original ideas for several of the tracks on Minor Deaths including “Street Haunting”, but harboured initial reservations about the song meshing with the band’s style. “Aaron felt this one wouldn’t work for Slow Down, but I got excited about it so we messed around with it a lot” shared McShane. “When we went on to record it with our good friend Mike Lefebvre I was the last person to put my guitar on the track, and right up to that point Mike also felt it didn’t sound like Slow Down. I then did what I do, which in that case was play single chords through a bunch of delays, and it clicked. It’s a song where I pushed the feel of what we were doing to a slightly different, more immediate place, where the four of us together sounded like ‘us’ even if the original idea was outside of what we do.” Soulodre, who replaced Scholz as second guitar, feels that choosing “Street Haunting” for the video is an affirmation of Stotz’s contribution and role in the band, stating his belief that “presenting this song is to present Aaron’s artistry, his writing and his direction, which is really exciting.”
The “Street Haunting” video immortalizes Slow Down Molasses’s explosive performance last January at the Big Winter Classic in Calgary. As a band, Slow Down has played the festival several times in past years, but it was the first appearance for incoming drummer Andrew Taylor, both at the festival and as a member of Slow Down Molasses. “Andrew only joined the band three and a half weeks before” Soulodre shared, “but he meshed so well, learned the whole set and just killed it. We’re thankful to have that performance on film because the night went so well, but also for posterity.” Taylor recalled that “it was a fun trial-by-fire, a great place to start. We opened for Vundabar who brought a great crowd energy, which really translates into the video.”
The “Street Haunting” video catches proverbial lightning in a bottle, using exciting angles, quick cuts and layered dreamlike shots to capture and convey the hypnotic, immersive energy of a Slow Down Molasses show. Oliver Clarke and Deyson Thiara are passionate about the medium, having made it a personal mission to shine a spotlight on Canada’s indie music scene. Morix spoke in detail about the band’s relationship with the filmmakers, which dates back several years and is rooted in the Big Winter Classic community. “The festival paired us up with Oliver the first year we played, and his work really stood out to us” Morix shared. “I’d never seen anything like it, this phenomenal super-dynamic style of juxtaposing two images against each other. He captures all our flaws and stitches them together in a compelling way, making us look and sound more interesting in the process.”
So without further ado, please enjoy an NSMZ exclusive: “Street Haunting” by Slow Down Molasses!
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