"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (video)
Christmas is fast approaching and it's time for us to unveil our brand new special end-of-year holiday clip!
The premises:
As you now know - well, theoretically - we still have an ongoing fundraiser to finance new Studio-Clips.
Two clips have already been released on Youtube - Rehab and Lemon Tree - and the audios from Good Riddance have already been shared with our patrons.
But what about the filming of Studio-Clips #3 and #4 ? Well these are planned for early 2024. Our director Aalehx being available again after the release of his new album Primal Robot on which we put our voices on 2 tracks...
And as our last Christmas title dated from 2020 with the super medley that we made with Orilia, we said to ourselves that it was the opportunity to release a new video on this theme with a new title in our repertoire until now. 'to this year.
From May to December, we collected more than âŹ1,200. As this is a low budget clip, the rest will be used to cover the very likely additional costs of the 3rd pending clip. But until recently, we did not yet know which title would be the subject of this recording.
In mid-November we said to ourselves âHey, come on, letâs record a Christmas song!â. But which one? A new one that we would find cool. We then look through our long list of pending Christmas song suggestions. And there, Cloud decides: "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", with nostalgia for the film "Home Alone" (do you remember the scene where young Kevin makes models dance to make people believe in gangsters that his family did not leave the house?). And what's more, it's in a rockabilly and very festive style and we've never made one before.
So let's go !
We thank the 30 people who participated in this prize pool. You should have received an email with the download link. Thank you again for your support and trust. We hope you like this arrangement! Please keep this song a secret until we can talk about it on release day!
Merci à : Papi Daniel, Fromi, Lisa, Danydeladrome, Charboula, Carchar0th_, Magalilou, Gtel69, F5PBG, CoualCahuet, Haryzona31, BiBiLfantOme, ArtAlexB_go, Magicironsam, NiihLink, Orion653, Cromelec, Astarioth, GoozeBerry, Pirate_Data, Leseb_16, Ahraviis, Freyacorbeaublanc, Saturne2021, Wardrocks, Leseb_16, VisitorG, Lucmarcheciel, Thalionwenn, RowerLito †!
THE FINAL RESULT:
(official release December 22 at 10 p.m. CET)
Recording studio phase with Alex HaĂŻkine:
No time to fool around for this video! We try to find two consecutive days free for recording. Not easy because we must first study the song, give ourselves a basis for arrangement, have it sufficiently in our ears and in our fingers to be as effective as possible on the big day.
We take a break on December 9 and 10 between two bursts of concerts.
We bring Alex to Metz (our hometown), it's all uproar in my room which is transformed into a home studio with screens/plaids to muffle the natural resonances as much as possible.
We're starting to get used to the procedure: first the guitars (because yes, here Cloud wanted to record three different ones), then the lead vocals on the same day, just before we went to enjoy the concert of Sting at the Rockhal (yay!). The next day, we start with a word correction for my voice, then quickly do the bodhran and concertina takes with a dedicated solo. What took the longest were the choruses which were partly improvised. We refine based on harmony, we test things, we keep, we throw away.
As a reward for a long, productive weekend, we order burgers. And there, unfortunately, a food does not pass. We try to work a little more, check the accuracy of the voices, do a little editing just to move forward. But damn, we still feel weird. Alex decides to play the bass and bell parts quietly at home. We're no longer good for anything anyway. And we endure a horrible night. All three. At least everything is in the box.
Filming phase without director and editing:
We get used to not having to worry about the light, the framing, the shots! No Aalehx, nor Giovanni this time. We're going back to the old way: we take our stream camera, our lights, we sit in front of our Christmas decorations and off we go!
But even if it meant making this Studio-Clip original, I had the following idea: who particularly likes hanging around the Christmas tree? Cats, of course (stealers even)! And why not ask the adopters of the SOS Moustaches association to pose for us? This association takes in stray cats, cares for them, sterilizes them, and either releases them in good health, or socializes them with a foster family before having them adopted. We took in two cats in 2020 and 2021 (Minette and Mister) as a foster family. The evolution of our profession has forced us to stop welcoming new cats, but we continue to support the association (donation, visibility).
Unfortunately, due to lack of time and probably clear and concise explanations in our announcement, we did not have any videos from adopters. Nevertheless, we posted our message on our social networks and 12 cats offered themselves as extras (well, their humans took care of capturing them for us)!
The project ? Film the cats near the Christmas tree or decorations, without forcing them to do anything. These videos taken in portrait would be the central element of our clip.
This particular constraint (verticality) forced us to think about our filming completely differently! On both sides are our musical shots thought of in portrait form (this is not at all instinctive as a way of proceeding), while in the center the cats follow one another. A very visually dense clip. It is very likely that you will need to watch it several times to catch all the details and comedic effects.
Felines in the spotlight:
We thank our families very very much for taking the trouble to capture precious moments with their cats. And we know how much we don't make cats do anything haha. (They are the masters of the world, after all).
So thank you to Adelle and her sweet Ella who gets the ball rolling and poses for the YouTube vignette, to Magalilou and her impassive Chacha who we enjoy during our vacations, to Coualcahuet and her 14-year-old Lotus adopted two years ago, to Adma357 and Intis who chills in front of the fireplace, to CitronBoniste and her adorable Hansel & Gretel in front of the piano, to Emi5457 and Phoeonix57 and their two cats Topaze & Phoenix who had a very different relationship with their tree, to MarionK and her super cute Pantoufff, to AnthSand and their very playful Silvio (we had to make a selection in the plans), to the Vanhoutte's who knew how to capture the yawn of their Alphonse, and to my family and our fluffy Ghizmo too cute with his Christmas hat (note the quick incursion of the dog Hermione to come and bother GuiGui during capture).
All these cats clearly added value to our Christmas song and helped convey the following important message: for Christmas and throughout the rest of the year, offer a new life full of love to a cat in search of 'a home â„. Seriously, after this burst of cute cats, it's pretty inspiring, right?
We still remember that a cat - or any other animal - is neither a toy nor a stuffed animal, but a sentient living being, which requires attention, care, and love. An adopted animal becomes a full member of the family and the law punishes people who mistreat their animals. Adopting is a responsible act that must be carefully considered.
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The SOS Mustaches association needs support. There are several ways to help the structure which actively fights to help our stray cats: one-off or regular donations, merchandising, collection, volunteering (during collections, as a foster family, etc.) and of course adoption (self- same or relay of announcements).
Even the smallest gestures count, so thank you for her. đ„°
I make a donation: https://www.helloasso.com/associations/sos-moustaches/formulaires/2
This association works in Moselle (France), but there is surely a structure near you which has the same ambitions. Unfortunately, too many felines and too many dogs are abandoned each year when they need a loving family.
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THANK YOU for allowing us to indulge our creativity!
The 6th prize pool for the future video therefore takes over! Bring your stone to the building and receive the audio file from 1âŹ, as soon as it leaves the studio + your name/pseudo accredited in the credits of the video on Youtube + for donations of 5⏠and + to have a priority request during one of our live streams on Twitch: I PARTICIPATE BY SPECIFYING MY EMAIL ADDRESS.
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