Premiere: Gabriel Bernini frolics in Santa Monica sun in ‘Someone in My Shoes’ video
The rock ‘n roller hits up Santa Monica for this eccentric new music video.
Artists do what they can for the art they make and love. That’s the only way it’s been able to survive for this long, and it’ll outlast us all when our lowly forms return to the earth. Easthampton’s rock fire-starter Gabriel Bernini underlines his aching desire to create with the upcoming cassette-issue of two albums. It’s self-imposed “Gabe Rock” of the highest order: a splash of psychedelia here, a pop hook there and a whole lotta gritty spit over the whole shebang. But his work is best experienced either with the top down and music blasting into your eardrums or through his tightly-produced and shot music videos. With his romping blow-out “Someone in My Shoes,” premiering today, he detours through sunny so-Cal indie-rock, a cheeky grin plastered on his face and his endearing quirks worn as a badge of honor.
“I don’t want to be a halo / No, I don’t want to be a distant friend / But I can’t give my love to the woman on the phone or a hologram,” his sings in cool, wispy sprays. An animated magazine cut-out of his mouth hooked onto the real thing, the Massachusetts singer and groove-master pummels you with a monstrously-bedeviling hook that’ll grab you and never let go. But his verses are coated in thick lines of metaphor for the chomping. “It’s a cold hard dealing, let me call my feelings in / I can tell you all about my past / Oh honey, you just say when…” Guitars crash and thrash and wash up and over your head; you’re drowning in a sea of hearty folk-rock before you even know what’s happened. That’s just Bernini’s way.
“I started recording this song with the bass. I did one take of a really repetitive bass line and then added everything around it. Everyone knows that the bass is the best instrument, so that’s probably why this is one of the greatest songs of the last decade,” he writes to B-Sides & Badlands over email. It’s the kind of sticky, gooey rock song that gets stuck to the bottom of your sneakers, and you could wipe it off, but why would you? He continues, “After sitting back and hearing the sheer genius of what is now known as [this song], I tried my best to replicate this process. It could not be done. The magic exists in this one song alone. It’s also got that cool backwards guitar solo!”
With a recent move out to the west coast, an opportunity to heighten the track even further naturally presented itself. Cinematographer Benjamin Bradley-Gilbert not only captures Bernini’s charming eccentricities but the landscape flies out from underneath him in an exuberant, lush display. “Benjamin and I drove out to Santa Monica and almost got run over by oncoming traffic,” says Bernini, formerly known as a founding member of LuxDeluxe, as well as a touring keyboardist for Deer Tick. “Most of the best views were on the side of the highway, so we pulled over and risked it for the art. We’ve worked together on multiple music videos now, and we always have a great time and great burritos.”
Bernini’s Gabe’s Record and Record for Bailey are set to be issued on cassette tomorrow (May 31). Grab ’em while they’re hot.
Watch below:
