Since the 1980’s, music videos have been captivating audiences around the world. They’ve been a way for musicians to put a face to the name, a story to the song, or neither of those and can be a totally random artistic statement. The music video had turned musicians into actors and actresses. Anyone growing up in the 90’s and early 2000’s remembers running home after school to vote and watch TRL on MTV. New video premieres seemed bigger than album release’s back then, and no one did it bigger and better than Michael Jackson with multiple nationally televised primetime world premieres.
Music videos took a dive after the TRL era. Although there were many notable music videos made during this time, it was YouTube which brought back the importance of the music video. Flash forward to present day and although MTV doesn’t play music videos any more, fans are still rushing to the devices to catch the latest YouTube music video premiere. A lot of times they feature a chat room filled with the band members and fans alike who can share the premiere experience together.
The Quins, a rock band out of Boston, and Quincy Medaglia (Vocals and guitar of The Quins) have both just released amazing music videos in one weeks time. One as a christmas gift to fans, and one as a sort of new years homage to finally being done with 2020. The first video release was for The Quins latest single “Wild Ones”. A humorous video showing the band in full makeup dressed as old men. Backed by a great track and produced by Revelry Studios, the video for “Wild Ones” is a must see. Make sure to check this one out!
INTERVIEW WITH QUINCY
MitchyDread: This song is unlike anything we have heard out of the Quins camp, how did this slower style manifest?
Quincy Medaglia: Well I was actually toying around with that piano line that you hear at the beginning of the track for a while before it ever became anything. I always felt it was very haunting and powerful for some reason. I’ve wanted to make it into a song but never really figured out a way to make it work. I try to never let myself get stuck in one particular style. I do love Rock and Roll and I always will. However, I truly believe that music is music and if it wants to come out of me I won’t stop it no matter what style or flavor. I just love creating. During the lockdown I invested in a MacBook that had Garageband built in, which is a super simple beginner-level recording software. As soon as I had the capability, I was recording like a madman. During that creative explosion of experimenting with the program and with nothing to do except create things thanks to COVID-19, that piano line I had been messing around with finally became “Sit and Wine”. We have a 140 year old Baby Grand Piano in our living room that hardly ever gets used. I recorded the track on it, and was really surprised at how good the sound came out considering I really had no idea what I was doing! Of course Zack Petti’s mix and Jay Frigoletto’s mastering brought it to a level that I probably never could’ve gotten it to. But I was very happy with the results of my initial recording of the track.
MitchyDread: The video is very deep! Who came up with the idea? And how easily did it transpose when shooting it?
Quincy Medaglia: It was a combination of things. My good friend Carl Benecchi had been coming over to chill and vent about life, love, pain, and everything over the course of the lockdown. Incidentally he is one of the best Music Video people in the area. The Quins worked with Carl on our first album with the tracks “Inconsistency” and “The Sweet Daddy Lullaby Love Song”. He has a very cinematic way of envisioning his videos. It always starts with his own love and connection to the song. He has to believe in the music for his vision to really shine, which is why I love him. In the case of Sit and Wine, I had been opening up to him about my experience with the pandemic; Watching my son struggle with school and losing his friends, Losing my ability to make a living playing gigs with and without the band, being bombarded with everyone’s hate and uncertainty on social media, and just a general sense of hopelessness. After hearing everything I was going through and then hearing the track, Carl immediately had an immense emotional response to the song. The first time he heard it, I was playing it for him off of a phone on my back porch. He was so excited about it he made me play it 3 more times. He’ll probably be mad at me for saying but he admitted that when he went home the night after hearing it, he listened all night and even cried because of how powerfully it connected with him. The next time I saw him he had the whole concept in his head from beginning to end. Shot for shot. Scene for scene. A perfect marriage of Music and Visual art. Neither one in the way of the other. I had a few minor suggestions along the way but ultimately it was Carl’s vision. We made it happen thanks in no small part to his video partner Chris Paull who handled all the brilliant camera and VFX work. It took a lot of working and re-working to get it to reach his standard but In the end I think we basically nailed it.
MitchyDread: Where was the video shot?
Quincy Medaglia: A few different places. The party at the beginning was originally shot at a friend’s house in Norwell. As beautiful as this home was it was a little too fancy and didn’t fit with the rest of the imagery of the video, so we decided to re-shoot it. I’m not a fancy party type of guy LOL. Luckily I have amazing friends who let us use the basement that you see in the final version. Shout out to Hitch, Bongi, Graham and everyone who showed up to be at the “party”. Love you guys.
We went to Duxbury Beach in Duxbury, MA for the majority of the Water shots and we used Fresh Pond in Plymouth, MA for a couple others. The scenes of me playing with The Quins were shot at Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke, MA. The scenes of me watching the TV and scrolling through Social Media were shot in my basement. Then the scene of me in the woods was shot at Ames Nowell State Park in Easton, MA. We also had to use a green screen studio in Randolph, MA for some of the floating scenes. We were all over the place!
MitchyDread: How was it working with Red Bridge Productions?
Quincy Medaglia: Luckily Carl and Chris have been my friends for a very long time so I’m very comfortable around them. We had our moments of disagreement that only lasted about 5 seconds and ALWAYS ended in laughter. Carl was incredibly stubborn, in the best possible way, about getting this done right. One of the scenes we shot at Duxbury Beach was in early December. Carl was insisting I go in the water for one final shot. Against my best judgement I started slowly walking into the FREEZING cold water. I got in deep enough for the water to go up to about my ankles and immediately turned back around. I said “I can’t do this”. He looked me in the eye, grabbed me by the shoulders and said “you’re doing it. You got this. You’re a musician, I know, but right now I need you to be an actor.” He always had a way of motivating me to get me to give him what he needed while also making me feel like I could do anything. He made me feel like I was capable of more than I realized. After I eventually gave in, we got the shots and he said “It’s a good thing you finally said yes. If you said no one more time I was about to throw you in!” and started laughing his ass off. It ended up being one of the most powerful shots of the video. He knew how to push me beyond my limits and I love him for that. This project took a lot of work and the end result is well worth it. You can really see the love and effort that went into it. I respect the hell out of those guys and I would trust them with any of my projects. They are true artists in every sense.
MitchyDread: What was your favorite memory(‘s) from the video shoot?
Quincy Medaglia: I’m not sure that this is my favorite memory but, shooting the scenes of me in the woods stumbling around through the trees was a very powerful and emotional day for me. Just before shooting, I had found out that a very close childhood friend of mine had passed away in an accident. I was devastated. I called Carl to tell him that I may not be able to shoot. “I’ll be right over” he said. He insisted that we shoot. All the scenes you see of me sitting watching the news and in the woods drinking were shot that day. I was an absolute mess, in and out of sobbing the entire time. I may have been abusing that wine a little too much! At one moment, I started crying my eyes out while Chris was setting up for another shot. Carl came over, grabbed me in a big bear hug, and let me bawl on his shoulder. A truer friend I could never ask for. The emotion of that day shows through in the video. We got what we needed for shots and they still managed to be there for me as real friends. I’ll always cherish that.
MitchyDread: What is the message you hope fans take away from the song and video “Sit and Wine”?
Quincy Medaglia: I have a short answer to this only because I truly believe there are so many different inspirations a person can take from this. This video is special to me because of all the ways it can be interpreted and applied to almost anyone’s life. If you’ve ever felt crushed, defeated, or felt like giving up because the World is bearing down on you, chances are this will speak to some part of your experience. It serves as a message from everyone involved in creating it that can be translated by the viewer/listener in an infinite amount of ways.
MitchyDread: Is there anything in the works for the Quins in 2021?
Quincy Medaglia: Yes! We have several irons in the fire. We are always scheming. Stay Tuned. ❤️😁🤘
THE QUINS – WEBSITE – INSTAGRAM – FACEBOOK – YOUTUBE – SPOTIFY
– MitchyDread
