In an effort to gather extras for their music video shoot, the Sun Bones, a local indie band, are taking over the streets of downtown Tucson to stage a free outdoor concert on Sunday afternoon.
The concert will feature the Sun Bones, with Adara Rae and the Homewreckers as the opening act, and is taking place at the intersection of Church Avenue and Pennington Street. Immediately after the concert, fans will be asked to partake in the shooting of a scene for the music video to the Sun Bones’ original song “You’re Gonna Die!”
“There’s intersecting storylines,” Sun Bones bassist Bob Hanshaw said. “One is a post-apocalyptic world … and the other is about a business man who’s having a terrible day.”
The post-apocalyptic storyline features a demonic priest who preaches about the inevitability of death, and in the adjacent story, a businessman meets a bar patron who has the same message. The two storylines converge when the businessman and a crowd of look-alikes meet the priest and his entourage of doomsday survivors in downtown.
Although the title and lyrics could be misleading, Hanshaw described the song as being one of the group’s most pop-sounding to date. The music video is being directed by Charles Alfred Brown, an experienced director who created a number of music videos in the 1980s and has since been involved in Tucson’s art community. Brown first heard the song and immediately wanted to create a music video for it, so he and the Sun Bones began collaborating.
Those in the group consider themselves to be an indie “chamber punk” band, according to their official website, but their current group and sound hasn’t always been this way. The band has gone through different genres of music, band members and names over the past several years and has only recently gained some popularity with their current name. Besides Hanshaw, Sun Bones includes Sam Golden, Seth Vietti and Laura Kepner-Adney.
Brown and the Sun Bones have been working to take their idea and turn it into a reality, and one of the most difficult parts has been orchestrating the shooting of the last scene. The group had to obtain permits, licensing and insurance for using the downtown street space for both the concert and the music video shooting, as well as provide refreshments for the extras. They must also spread the word as much as possible.
The band has created a campaign on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo to raise money for the music video. The band has already surpassed their goal of $2000 and is using the donations toward renting equipment, props, costuming and other miscellaneous expenses that come along with shooting a music video.
The most important element for the last scene, however, is the crowd. In order to have a crowd, one needs a pretty large number of people willing to act chaotic and energetic on-camera. The Sun Bones said they believed the best way to entice people to participate was to provide them with something in return — thus, their outdoor concert incentive.
Adara Rae Lialios, frontwoman of the all-female pop/rock group Adara Rae and the Homewreckers, said she is excited to be assisting the Sun Bones with the project.
“It’s kind of like Tucson musician love going down,” Lialios said. “Hopefully, we’ll get some local support, and it’ll be a good show.”
The Sun Bones are hoping for a turnout of between 200 and 250 people to film the gigantic crowd scene.
“Everyone’s welcome. It’s a free concert; nobody’s doing anything on a Sunday,” Hanshaw said. “My band is committed to providing really cool concert-going opportunities, especially for the under-21 crowd.”
The street concert begins at 1 p.m., and music video filming will commence immediately after. Those interested in being extras are encouraged to wear apocalyptic clothing and makeup without weapons, business casual attire or simply come as they are and be prepared to be part of something unusual and enjoyable.
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