Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:54:54
Joey McIntyre [New Kids on the Block] is giving ARTISTdirect.com editor and Dolor author Rick Florino a series of updates on his forthcoming solo record in this exclusive blog series, welcome to installment #1…
As soon as I decided on the video concept for "Here We Go Again," I wanted to get the fans involved. I knew we were going to need lots of "background specialists" to make the location seem legit. But while we were in pre-production, I kind of put the task of getting fans to come down on the backburner. It ended up that I told the fans only four days before I would need them.We did it on Twitter—I said the first 30 people to e-mail an address would be invited down to the video. In five minutes, I got over 2000 responses and had to shut it down. Once again a sudden shock of love hit me and I was knocked over! We counted down the winners tweet by tweet. It was fun! I threw in a couple of bonus winners. And then those 32 people began the frantic quest of getting to L.A. in three days. We had people from all over! Canada—east and west, South Carolina, D.C., NYC, and London!!!
So now we had confirmation that everyone save a couple were coming and I thought...Ok, now what? Because honestly, I wasn't sure we should have 30 girls in the scenes. I kept belaboring that point to our producer John Davis, that this is a Fight Club and yes, I wanted girls representing. However, I didn't want it to look like Meet-and-Greet at a New Kids concert. I really felt like I was going to have to make their trip worthwhile in other ways—hanging out, saying hi, taking pix—because I felt some weren't gonna be on camera.
But as I came to the set for the first shot, the producer told me that it was all set. I walked on and checked it out. "Is this everyone?" I asked. "Yup." Wow...it looked good. Plenty of dudes and all the fans came dressed properly for the scene—kudos. It looked really good. So I went from thinking I would have to placate the fans as they sat on folding chairs all day to feeling bad that they were standing on their feet all day. They worked hard! They were screaming, hollering, stomping their feet and shaking their fists. They gave 110% the whole time. That is all I really care about. And I wasn't gonna slow down either, but if I did, I would just have to look at them hangin' tough right there with me.
The theme of the video is based on the movie Fight Club. The impetus for it inspiring the video has a few origins. While I was making this album, I just felt very "thrown forward." I didn't think the music would be this strong and in your face. I had a lot to say and I wanted to blurt it out in a sense. I felt like I had to physically match the raw emotion and feeling of the music. I've always been in pretty good shape, but I wanted to get in the best shape of my life for this music. So I had that in the back of my mind. And then as an independent artist trying to use my time and money wisely, I had to think simple, when deciding on a concept. One location. Simple idea. My music producer Brent Paschke is a huge Fight Club fan, so much so that his screensaver is a tiny picture in the middle of the screen of Meat Loaf as "Bob." I was sitting in the studio when I saw that, and it hit me. If I want a goal to get into the best shape of my life, here it was. It's a cool cult movie, and the song matches its intensity, so I went for it.
All of this couldn't have happened without the director John Brenkus, who is a friend. John is an Emmy winning TV producer/director, and he loved the song. So he opened up his entire studio- space and staff! Cinematographer Tim Gordon and the crew captured/created an authentic, gritty and dark but glowing vibe. We prepped for a few weeks and then shot it in two days. First day was performance-me singing the song in two different set ups. That was fun. We felt we got great stuff that day and we were right. The stylist Julie Peterson and I spent a good amount of time on the right look for both spot and I think we nailed it—thank God, cuz its very easy to go the another way and it can effect the whole vibe and look.
The second day was the Fight Club—where I get my ass kicked but battle back to get a few good shots in. This was the day I had been training and dieting for four weeks- not an eternity but it felt that way. Like I said, I was in the best shape of MY life. The there were other bodies on the set that looked a lot better than mine, but I was feeling good, and it was a nice sense of accomplishment to be there in that "ring" and feel like rockin' the world.
This song is one big metaphor for "staying in the game," for "showin' up" and "keepin' punchin.'" I love making music, but the business can be a grind and often I hear those voices saying—"do you really want to do this again?...You could be chilling right now. Vacationing around the world as you wait for the New Kids to get back together. Hang in L.A., see what comes across the desk."
But then this music pulls me in, the crowd pulls me in, my deeper inner voice saying, "you got something to say buddy, so shut up and say it!" if that makes any sense. "Shut up and say it" :)
And that voice wins out. There'll always be Paris, but I'm still in the ring and the fight is on the line. And I'm ready to give it and I'm ready to take it. Here we go again!! :)
Stay tuned for more next week as "Here We Go Again" hits iTunes.
—JM
11.06.09
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