Night Of Joy taps underground talent for upcoming video

In this post-Beatles world, it’s pretty pedestrian to get by with the moral support of your friends. With plans for their first video in the works, the members of Denver’s Night Of Joy take the message of that pop-music chestnut to the next level; they aren’t just getting by, but actually getting things done with the help of their friends. Take that, Ringo Starr, you ambitionless slacker.

When the punk trio heads into the studio to film its video for “John Candy” on Saturday, it will have a pair of indie-level artists in its corner as it turns the tedium of video production into a full-on collaborative event. Maison De Rose’s Baily Rose will call on her fashion skills to create the wardrobe for the shoot, while Brass Tree’s Leighton Peterson will be on deck to provide filming and production. It’s an underground social scene that’s brimming with talent.

“Naturally, our connection is to other artists as people,” bassist Bree Davies explains. “As you start to be around creative people of all media, you start to realize that you’re all very similar in the fact that you just want to do and make and create. When you can do that in multiple dimensions, through art and music and and fashion and videography, it’s seeing something in a different light.”

The team-up goes beyond exploiting friends’ talents to round out the video. It’s a full-blown collaboration, with Rose and Leighton developing the storyboards around the act’s concept. Night Of Joy’s members won’t really know what to expect creatively until they show up for filming.

Although it won’t be directly involved, the classic soul-funk outfit Cameo’s at least collaborator in spirit, and probably more so. In a twist on the John Candy angle implied by the song’s title, Night Of Joy will borrow the blueprint from the soul act’s not-so-classic 1986 video “Candy” for its concept. 

“It’s the most ridiculous thing,” Davies says. “The lead singer isn’t the most attractive dude, but you can tell he thinks he is by how much screen time he gets. There’s, like, women falling from the sky, because they’re in this New York background. It’s a video we really like. The music taste in our band is very wide.”