So, the music video on MTV as a promotional tool is a thing of the past, is it? Well, on July 1, Fervor Records announced that you could see the new Glass Heroes video for "Let Me Down" on MTV.com, the reformed music channel that's trying to establish its website as a one-stop band listing like Reverb Nation instead of the reality-based wasteland it has been for nearly two decades.
You can cry your "too little too late" tears, but Keith Jackson, founder of the Phoenix punk institution, still believes, if not in the power of MTV to launch new artists, but for the video to make a statement that people who just hear a song might miss.
"I liken it to being a kid and opening that LP and reading all the liner notes in the inside record sleeve while the album spun on my stereo, " he laughs.
The Glass Heroes are scheduled to perform at The Rhythm Room on July 16.
"The same concept . . . but immediate action. I used to watch Don Kirshner's Rock Concert on TV just to see the artists I loved and what they looked like and how they moved . . . made it so much more personal. Hell! I was a Thin Lizzy fan. And didn't even know Phil Lynott was black until I saw them on a variety TV show in the '70s."
If nothing else, this latest push to get Glass Heroes onto smartphones and iPads signifies the success Fervor Records has had licensing music from its roster of artists and opening doors that have stayed closed in promoting that music.
"Fervor Records has been paramount in launching and helping local artists push into the publishing world of placing music on TV & Film projects," Jackson says. "And I might add that they are honest -- [they] make the process painless and less confusing to the working musician."
The video for "You Let Me Down," a song from the group's 2013 album Liars Cheats N Thieves, was shot by director Matty Steinkamp (Sundawg Media) and is the first narrative video the band has shot.
"We'll be cranking out two more next month," Jackson says, "both with storylines involved. For this one, we incorporated our girlfriends to shoot with us, which was a blast! My girl Chelsea does a great job in her debut, bitching me out on the cell phone scenes. And here's a little 'Pop Up Video' fact . . . She really was screaming at me! The backseat-of-the-car scenes, in which a number of them are screaming at each of us, were actually therapeutic."
The video ends with Jackson's girlfriend stomping on her cell phone, which may be a fetish in some countries. Asking Jackson what's the worst thing he's ever done to a cell phone might actually make for a good follow-up video.
"I was sitting at a bar in Hollywood called The Burgundy Room. The girl next to me, her phone kept vibrating over and over again. She had her back to it, yapping away with her friends. As I left, I picked it up, walked into the bathroom, tossed it in the bowl . . . and proceeded to urinate on said cell phone. Oh, sweet triumph!"
This is not the first video shot for the Heroes. Nick Orciuolo shot the Ruts cover "Back Biter," as well as a documentary on the group.
