The Cold Stares’ (www.thecoldstares.com) new video Coming Home marks a continued collaboration with photographer/filmmaker Alex Morgan (www.alexmorganimaging.com). The blues-rock band partnered with Morgan on their previous video, Into Black. Their latest song is featured on the upcoming studio album, “The Southern,” which is set for release on September 6th via Mascot Records.
According to Morgan, the video is meant to reflect The Cold Stares’ southern roots, showing off the band as well as the region of Kentucky they come from. Coming Home gives viewers insight into the world of singer/guitarist Chris Tapp, with local imagery of trains, railroad tracks, buildings and a gas station serving as a backdrop for the band’s outdoor performance footage. As the song plays out, the band is shown performing in an old barn that now serves as a musical venue, with the video’s overall color becoming more saturated.
Coming Home was shot over two days. The first day was used to capture the band’s performance in the barn, while day two was used for shooting the imagery of rural Kentucky. The barn was a unique find, as friend and folk singer Troy Miller made it available for the shoot. The space is on a historic registry and is now designated for use as a creative space.
“This is perfect,” Morgan (pictured, below) recalls thinking, upon seeing the space. He brought in his own, recently-acquired Arri 650s to create the dramatic lighting. Morgan shot most of the video using his Nikon D850 DSLR camera, though a Sony FX30 was also used to capture footage of the community. In addition, Heath Metzger shot drone footage for the aerial coverage and the clips traversing the railroad tracks.
The edit came together over the course of a week and a half. Morgan cut and colored Coming Home using Adobe Premiere running on a MacBook Pro. After creating an initial cut, Chris Tapp came by his studio for some tweaking.
“He was seeing the shots in-camera, and I would say he was stoked,” says Morgan of the singer’s reaction. Slight revisions included replacing footage shot from one camera angle with another. “He loved the color and approach. It took only 30 minutes,” says Morgan of the update.