Small Spaces, the new EP from Ryan Wasterlain's solo project, Summer of Glaciers, is mood music of the dreamy variety, but the video for "Elevators" gets downright nightmarish. Shot as one continuous take by Christopher Bryan, and featuring extras from Denton bands, "Elevators" unsettles with just some paint and some fire.
"Overall, the video is meant to be more of an abstract visual experience," Wasterlain says. "Christopher Bryan came to [Gutterth and myself] with the idea for this continuous take video. I really loved the idea because it was extremely surreal but not in the sense that we just threw a bunch of psychedelic effects at it... it takes the unsettling mood of the song and translates into a strange and dark narrative that can really be read any way you want. I'm a fan of keeping a certain amount of mystery around what song meanings are.
"I also was really happy to get a chance to have members of Denton-based bands Bad Design, Spooky Folk, New Science Projects, Babar and The Angelus along for the ride. I have to thank them all so much for saying yes to the question: "Do you want to come stand in a cold, wooded area painted white and light something on fire?"
"This video was especially challenging because of the use of fire," adds Bryan. "Really anything could go wrong and then the video is ruined. I can rehearse all the moves and everyone can be absolutely ready, but if the fire does something weird or the screen doesn't burn the way we want it to, the video is ruined and we didn't have the time or money to reset it. But it's that sort of thing that really interests me."
