Atomic Girl | "Unmotivational Speaking"
Atomic Girl is a pop-punk band based out of Brooklyn whose debut album The Future is So Bright was released in 2017. The idea for this video came when I was asked to play rhythm guitar on a few songs for the band's two album release shows in Philadelphia and Brooklyn. The thought of unfettered access to the group's rehearsal, travel, and concert rituals was especially exciting to me, so I took the opportunity to make a documentary-style music video for their single "Unmotivational Speaking."
Having been in bands for the better part of a decade, I always find the work an audience would never see—constant rehearsing, debating different song arrangements, lugging equipment, and endless driving—under-represented in how we experience music. As viewers, we tend to only see the polished finish product, be it a concert or a recording of a song, rather than the work that results in said product. So for this video, I wanted to give a glimpse into the surrounding events of a show, as well as the comedown once the stage is empty and the process starts over again.
Directed, shot and edited by me.
Concert camera work by Rose Bender.