Some Songs – B. Wurtz
All songs by B. Wurtz
Produced by Harlan Steinberger at Hen House Studios
The Shady Road
I had a trip scheduled for March of 2020 to visit B. at his place on the North Fork of Long Island to film some his favorite walks there. That was canceled when the lockdown occurred. Overlapping images shot by me, my son while riding his bike and others found by B. take us along this imaginary journey.
B. Wurtz: Vocals acoustic guitar
Harlan Steinberger: Drums, percussion, bass
Light Shine Through
Shot through my studio windows in Venice, CA and layered with films of reflections on the water.
This the only loosely choreographed video acted by Micah Nelson and Alexandra Dascalu for this sweet love song.
B. Wurtz: Vocals, piano
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar
Kyle McNeill: Electric guitar
Harlan Steinberger: Drums, percussion, bass
My Dear Friend
Outtakes from a Super 8 film I made in Rome in 1990 attempts to create the nostalgia felt in this song.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar, background vocal
Aroyn Davis: Bass, background vocal
Harlan Steinberger: Drums, percussion, keyboards
The Statue
The Pygmalion story came to mind while listening to B. and the band recording The Statue. This video combines shots from around the Huntington Garden with excerpts from a Super 8 fashion film shoot I did in Italy in the 80s.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal, harmonica
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar, background vocal
Micah Nelson (Particle Kid): Keyboards
Milo Gonzalez: Electric slide guitar
Aroyn Davis: Bass
Paul Allen: Drums, percussion
The Song We Sing
Found footage of both singers and a medical exam of the larynx take the lyrics of this song quite literally.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar, background vocal
Micah Nelson (Particle Kid): Background vocal
Milo Gonzalez: Electric slide guitar, electric guitar
Aroyn Davis: Bass, background vocal
Paul Allen: Drums, percussion, background vocal
Days of Long Ago
One of the first videos I made in Covid-19 quarantine. I experimented with basic stop motion animation along with manipulated videos B. shot on his iPod Touch. Initially the lyrics to this song took me way back but shifted meaning as life changed on a dime due to the virus.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar
Aroyn Davis: Bass
Harlan Steinberger: Keyboards, percussion
The Bridge
B. recounted that he wrote this song based on his walks over the Manhattan Bridge to and from work at a paper studio on the other side. He and I did the same walk together and I combined this footage with various shots of NYC shot on my iPhone. This is the first video I made for this project, it led to making the visual companion for the entire album.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar
Micah Nelson (Particle Kid): Keyboards
Milo Gonzalez: Electric guitar
Aroyn Davis: Bass
Paul Allen: Drums, percussion
The Clock
This song his about an antique clock B. has in his NYC studio. I asked him to shoot the very clock and so we get a glimpse into his workspace. Time in the broad sense is explored by using photos of B. from different ages in his life and a collage of images from my vast collection of vernacular photographs give another measure of the passage of time.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar
Micah Nelson (Particle Kid): Auto harp, keyboards, background vocals
Milo Gonzalez: Electric guitar
Aroyn Davis: Bass
Paul Allen: Drums
Today
The profoundly etherial lyrics and music of this song inspired this journey through various weather systems and the measuring of it as time drifts along.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal, piano
Black Lavender: Background vocal
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar
Micah Nelson (Particle Kid): Cymbal, electric guitar
Aroyn Davis: Bass
Harlan Steinberger: Drums
Start Here
There is something about this song that is so melancholy yet uplifting that I get teary each time I hear it. The aircraft marshaller seems to be indicating to the many unknown passengers the start of new journeys ahead. Shot entirely on my iPhone through an airplane window on a trip from NYC to LA.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Micah Nelson (Particle Kid): Electric guitar, keyboards
Harlan Steinberger: Bass
Paul Allen: Percussion
When I Met You
Found home movies and an educational sex ed film tell the story of an imaginary relationship.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal, piano,
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar, background vocal
Harlan Steinberger: Bass, drums, percussion
Little Birds
I found a 16mm film of birds on eBay right as this song was being recorded in the next room to my studio. B. told me he wrote this quite literally about birds he observed out his window. I manipulated the birdwatcher’s footage.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar, background vocal
Micah Nelson (Particle Kid): Bird calls, keyboards
Milo Gonzalez: Electric guitar
Aroyn Davis: Bass
Paul Allen: Drums, percussion
Water
B. sings about the simple beauty of water, something I am so attracted to myself. When I showed him the completed video that includes a shot of my friend floating on the Dead Sea he said that was exactly what he was imagining when he wrote it.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar
Micah Nelson (Particle Kid): Cymbal, keyboards
Milo Gonzalez: Electric guitar
Aroyn Davis: Bass
Matthew DeMerritt: Saxophone
Harlan Steinberger: Percussion
Paul Allen: Drums
The Wind
Thinking about this song while walking down the beach on a coincidentally very windy day led me to a chance encounter with kite fliers.
B. Wurtz: Lead vocal, piano
Sunny War: Acoustic guitar, background vocal
Milo Gonzalez: Electric guitar
Micah Nelson (Particle Kid): Keyboards
Aroyn Davis: Bass
Paul Allen: Drums, percussion