WL//WH Video Of The Day: STARFLYER 59 “909” (A Short Film by Hunter Christy)

Video Of The Day  STARFLYER 59

Founded in 1993Starflyer 59, the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer Jason Martin, have dropped a short film by Hunter Christy for the latest single “909”, building anticipation for the August 16, 2024 release of his 17th full-length album “Lust For Gold, via his own label  Velvet Blue Music.

The title “909” refers to the early 1990s area code for Martin’s hometown of Riverside, California.

The line-up for the track includes J. Martin (guitars, vox), his son, C. Martin (drums, bgv), S. Dail (bass), R. Withem (guitar), and F. Lenz (percussion).

A back to the basics of the band’s gritty yet crystalline guitar tone, struggling to make sense of the life/work asymmetry, a tired trucker drives into crunchy layers of sharp-edged distorted guitar riffs weaved with wistful sizzling wails, lifting over a vibrant foundation of hard-hitting drum beats and throbbing bass lines, to achingly reverberate around downtrodden, baritone vocals, haloed by celestial echoes, longing for home through a rosy lens of nostalgia.

The way my brain interpreted “909” left me feeling the weight of life and responsibility juxtaposed with pining for a simpler time when you last felt safe and loved and truly cared for. I kept building a world in my head where I was asking myself, “When is the last time you were totally content? How do I get there? Can I ever really go back? What does the journey to that place look like?” Hunter Christy

Filmed at almost 50 different locations by Hunter Christy, the thought-provoking video begins with a stiff business class couple going through the motions of life with bored looks on their faces. Then, a picture of a simple childhood house ignites a stream of colorful vintage memories and evocative soul-searching introspections. Finally, a heady crisis occurs when recollection and reality collide, causing a shift in perspective more aligned with current ideals.

To further visually separate the characters current reality versus the warm flashback sequences, I photographed the two situations with very different lens systems – a modern, very sharp, photography zoom lens was used to create a harsher, grittier ‘now’ as opposed to manual focus cinema prime lenses to create a softer vintage aesthetic.Hunter Christy

Keep up with Starflyer 59:

hardcover books of ‘Lust For Gold’ LP