What’s the score? Grass Widow are deep. The San Francisco based three piece are brazen worshippers of the metaphorical, down to their name, lyrics and particularly for recent video for ‘Shadow’. They play hide and seek to the bone, singing about “personal and often dark subjects” tells guitarist/vocalist Raven Mahon, yet all dressed nicely in “upbeat instrumentation” to shirk off any defining first impressions. United by Hannah Lew (bassist/vocalist), Lillian Maring (drummer/vocalist), ‘Shadow’ is just one instrumental hit off their upcoming Kill Rock Stars release Past Time, which boasts a journey shared lo-fi vocal harmonies and dense guitar rhythms and hooks. We cracked away at their video, with quick-fire questions at the band and animator to learn a little bit more about this breakthrough band.
THE DIRECTOR/ANIMATOR: OWEN COOK
SS: What did you interpret from the song before creating the animation? Did you have any input from the band?
Owen: I liked this song in particular and was excited they picked it to be the one we did the video for. The lyrics were something I could visualize, relating to the ego and perspectives thereof. The music is jangly brilliant, I didn't mind many repeated listens. We exchanged ideas and sketches, they had lots of good input we went back and forth on the look and the editing.
SS: Can you give us a summary of the story of the video?
Owen: It's about a person from the city who goes up to the country because they had to get away. The story is kind of an abstracted interpretation of an individual's escape from the institutions in their life. Mostly I was trying to tell the story of people and their trash and their shadows and their egos. The look and themes borrow from Frans Masereel and Lynd Ward. At the end, the main character dissolves into the landscape, in a fragmented explosion, because the ego has no place there.
SS: What was the process you used for the animation?
Owen: I Xeroxed some images, dipped some in ink wash and painted on some with Indian ink. Most of it was hand drawn frame by frame. Then I photographed each image with a digital camera. Once I had enough material I edited it to the song.
BAND: GRASS WIDOW
SS: What's the tale or concept being told in the song?
GW: ‘Shadow’ is primarily about the Ego. In the song we describe the sensation of feeling small or large. We also describe the feeling of being high up on the top floor or in the cellar of a building. We used the idea of a shadow as an intangible entity, referencing something, but not having form, acting in much the same way our emotions do.
SS: Why did you decide to go with an animator for the video?
GW: We met Owen when we went to see his band Hobocop. We really liked his animations and wanted to work with him. Luckily he was into the project! It was fun to collaborate on themes with him.
SS: Have you any interesting trivia about in the making of the song?
GW: We wrote this song while on a band retreat in Mendocino, CA. We set up our equipment in a log cabin and played music all day. There was a wood burning stove and we were surrounded by trees, and sometimes bears would come snooping around the property. We each had a little bed with matching polar bear blankets in the loft of the cabin, and our dreams (or inability to sleep) influenced the subject matter of each of the songs we wrote. ‘Shadow’, ‘Fried Egg’ and ‘11 Of Diamonds’ are cousin songs in that they were all created in this space, separated from society.
