Behind the Video: "Until the A.M."

Yesterday, after 3 months of work, my first ever Rap video hit the halls of YouTube. Chocolate Mylk and Scrambled Eggz is the comedy hip-hop act of James Hargove and Jayson "KoKo" Bridges. The pair have worked together for years and wrote the music for Nelly and Tim McGraw's smash hit "Over and Over."

"Until the A.M." is the first video and first single that the group is releasing under the name Chocolate Mylk and Scrambled Eggz. Talk about making the video first began in July 2011, but with the birth of Jimmy's first son and my work on OPTION//CONTROL's "Falling Star" (which Jimmy and KoKo wrote the beats to) taking place in August, the video was pushed back to the beginning of October. 

It was Monday, October 10th. The St. Louis Cardinals had skated their way into the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers and after a Game 1 loss, they were looking to make it even in Game 2. As exciting as that was, we just so happened to be shooting the video at Gettemeier's Bar and Grill in Florrisant, MO that night... so needless to say, our environment was not going to be ideal. Gettemeier's could not have been more pleasant to work with, they gave us the full run of the bar and even let us film the video in their brand new patio section, which had yet to be opened.

Having never made a rap video before, I was unsure of which route I should take with "Until the A.M." I could stick to my guns and make a full out mini movie, much like "Falling Star" or I could make it an all out party video, in the vein of rap videos I've seen in the past. One such video was Three Six Mafia's "Stay Fly," which formed the basis of my video concept for "Until the A.M" The group would arrive at an already amped up bar/club and pretty much spit each one of their verse's amongst the extremely drunk and rowdy patrons. Thankfully the Cardinals winning their Game 2 match against the Brewers helped the to elevate the party atmosphere in the room. In fact, if you look closely at some of the TV screens in the video, you might catch sections of the game.

We only had the one night to shoot the entire video, which included 3 separate locations, all along North Lindbergh in Florrisant/Bridgeton, MO. For the rough task, I called up one of my favourite partners in crime, Ashley Alcamo, to help assist. direct the video with me. Ashley and myself have worked together numerous times now, and every single time, she does not fail to see a unique angle or imaginitive vision that I might have missed while being completely flustered with production. The energy of video, speaks for itself and I don't want to give too much away, but by 1 a.m. that night, the magic of Cardinals game was beginning to wear off and the bar patrons had begun to stumble home. After one final shot of Jimmy and KoKo doing some chocolate milk shots off the bar, the video was a wrap.

So far, a lot of people have asked me about the Burger King... It's become apparent that he was definitely the star of the show. BK, was just one of Jimmy and KoKo's friends who agreed to dress up and drive them around in a real taxi. He was game for any rediculousness that I asked for and I greatly appreciate that. His dedication to his friends and willingness to have a great time on cue, definitely come through on camera.

Enjoy the video, check out Chocolate Mylk and Scrambled Eggz and hopefully there will be another video on the way soon!

-P 

A Very Ludo X-mas 2011

A few years back (2007), I had the honor of opening the Very Ludo X-mas show at The Pageant in St. Louis, MO with my band, Nothing Still. Playing in front of 2,200 people (a Sold Out crowd) was by far, the highlight of our career and a memory I will never forget. This past Saturday, it was as if I had stepped in the Delorean and gone back in time (cue the Huey Lewis music), cause I once again found myself on that stage, overly decorated with giant inflatable Christmas lawn ornanments and reeking of Glade pine air freshener. 

This time around, it was OPTION//CONTROL who got to open for the local group, gone national sensation and they too got to experience what it was like to play in front of a jam-packed, music thirsty crowd. I knew from experience that it would be a night worth remembering and brought a long a talented crew of cameramen to capture the night in its entirety. Along with Casey Watson and photographer, Joey Nguyen, we documented the entire day's events beginning with the band at it's afternoon rehearsal. We caught the excitement, the nerves, the anger and the fun that comes along with playing a life changing show of this caliber. 

Check out photos by the super talented Todd Owyoung on the Riverfront Times website:

Ludo's 2011 X-Mas Show At The Pageant

And an article about the gig (with great commentary about OPTION//CONTROL) on InsideSTL.com:

A Very Ludo X-Mas Returns to The Pageant!

Keep watching,

-P

The New Kings of A&R: OPTION//CONTROL

Not really press for me this time, but its important to talk about how my dudes OPTION//CONTROL have landed a featured articles on the website Kings of A&R.

So why is this so important Patrick? Well, it's cause it's the next crutial step in the band's journey to acheiving a major label record deal (which would be pretty sweet, right?). Kings of A&R is an industry site that basically keeps labels in the know about who is coming up and making waves independantly. I'm not good at descriptions, so here's how they explain themselves:

"Throughout the last decade, Kings of A&R has helped hundreds of artists worldwide land licensing deals, endorsements,  publishing deals, and major record deals with companies including Disney, Lava, Atlantic Records, Universal, Warner Brothers, EMI, Epic, Virgin, Republic, J Records, Island Def Jam, Wind-Up, Roadrunner, Mercury, Interscope, A&M Octone, Glassnote, Columbia, RCA, and various indie labels.

Kings of A&R has been recognized as a music industry leader by UK’s Financial Times, CNN, Billboard Magazine, Spin Magazine, Rolling Stone Magazine, as well as daily newspapers around the world."

You can visit the link here:

http://www.kingsofar.com/optioncontrol/

Keep supporting your local music... no matter where you are, you never know when your best friends' dreams may come true.

-P

Update on Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 11:00AM by Patrick

I forgot to mention... I've put together an awesome team of cameramen (including my dude, Casey Watson) to film OPTION//CONTROL this Saturday night at The Pageant in St. Louis, MO. They will be opening for Ludo (formerly of Island Records). Expect an interesting little live video, just in time for the 1 year anniversary of my first OPTION//CONTROL video for their track "Dominator."

Can't believe that was a year ago already... 

OPTION//CONTROL Release Long-Awaited EP!

My dudes in OPTION//CONTROL have finally released a new EP!

The first collective release by the band in almost two years, sees a handful of recent tracks from their single releases, including the hit song "Falling Star." Also included on the EP are the tracks: "Back To Me" and "Ready To Go."

You can pick up the EP, figuritively speaking, digitally from iTunes at:

OPTION//CONTROL - "Falling Star" EP

Check it out now and don't forget to check out the "Falling Star" music video, directed by some guy I know.

-P

We ain't getting home, till the liquor's all gone.

Had my second weekend in a row of absolute craziness.

Last weekend, I tackled two days of filming Tear Out The Heart's music video for "Come At Me, Bro!," Releasing OPTION//CONTROL's "Falling Star" music video, as well as completing editing and releasing Kyle Jordan Mueller's cover of "Love on Top" (All of which you can read about below). This weekend was much of the same with a two day shoot for up and rising singer CeCe Frey and the music video shoot for comedy rap act, Chocolate Mylk and Scrambled Eggz.

In the last month, I have been expanding my interests into new genres, outside of pop and have found myself faced with having to make videos for both metal and rap acts. Honestly, if you know me at all, you would know that I have a very extensive musical history that includes over 10 years of playing in the St. Louis music scenes and almost 5 years working in music retail (you know those stores that you used to go to to BUY music?). So, needless to say, I am very familiar with multiple musical styles and can adapt easily to film any facet, but that doesn't make it any less intimidating when doing it for the first time. The hecticness of filming the Tear Out the Heart video at OZ Nightclub last week was surprisingless balanced by the smoothness of filming Choco Mylk at Gettemeier's Bar last night. The crowd was cooperative (thanks to a 12-3 Cardinals victory in the NLCS) and ready to drink all night and dance to the same song over and over. Where as the usual crowd at The Party at the OZ seemed unwilling to be on camera and just happy to be apart of the happening of the night. 

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you showing up, but if you are gonna be at a video shoot... at least do what the director asks you to. Fuck!

Of course both videos have not been edited down yet, so I won't go into detail about their productions... I'll save that for their respective "Behind the Video" blogs (shameless plug). But on the flip side, I did film two simultaneous videos for CeCe Frey on Friday and Saturday for her vocal covers of Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" and Christina Aguilera's "Fighter." I'm like the Peter Jackson of YouTube. CeCe has previously been seen performing with the electro hip hop act Volholla! and has decided to start making her own cover vids. Naturally, I am flattered that she went with me, so let's hope that I can knock two out of the park for her and get that career off to a jump start!

That's it for now, I have a lot to edit and more shit to talk about in upcoming blogs... I've been meaning to finish my thoughts on Teen Wolf, but haven't gotten around to it... maybe tomorrow.

Have fun,

-P