Walter Sickert & The Army Of Broken Toys Music Video Part 4

Flashback.

I'm trying to remember how I initally met
Walter & Edrie.

I distinctly remember seeing them perform
@ the late, lamented SkyBar.
Heck. I took notes...
even then inkpen sketches for a music video,
cobbling visuals & concepts.
Here. One of my half-dozen or so mini-pads
reads Jan 18, 2007.
>faces coming in & out of shadow, lurking
>precursor: Walter vocal intro?
>desk/keyboards progressively lower, Walter hulking over
>"Rocket Man" multi-images Walter
>would like track w/ Edrie backing vox

I may have intro'd myself after their set.
This was, after all, fairly early in the new year
& I was full of resolution ie. network!
Or it may have been via K...
I honestly don't recall.
Whatever the case, I was inclined to meet
as soon as possible.
Their live set was jarring.
Of course all the high concept was there--
and the x-references (Dresden Dolls, White Stripes)
BUT
male & female duo
w/ many many many mic'ed toys ie.
chimpanzees clashing cymbals
Fisher Price record player scraping by
kazoos and "ma-ma!" dolls.
Odd squawks in the murk.
Neither Walter nor Edrie pin-up types
but each in his/her own way...
a confessional kilowatt.

Walter's a bear-like man,
glasses, dreds, and the constant post-apocalyptic
overcoat...
a wardrobe bathed in chemical mustard gas &
brick dust.
In person, he's extremely soft-spoken...
a gent w/ a wicked sense of humor.
Edrie (who I address as "Edrie" on-set, in front of crew
but prefer the norm "Sarah") is stout & determined.
She feels like manager/agent/driving force...
all the show E-M's come from her
all the managerial planning & product placement.
She's more forthcoming in writing than in person.
I don't know if this is shyness or reserve...
I always feel like she's someone at an office party I'm talking to.

I meet w/ both @ their Allston apartment in Feb 2007.
It will be the 1st of several meetings & party attends.
Their bookshelves are aligned w/ volumes of Nancy Drew
and polymer figurines.
Walter's artwork is arranged on the walls--
reedy figures on literal pins
sharp jagged teethbites
and hanging men.
Ed Gorey meets "Nightmare Before Christmas"
by way of the troubled 3rd-grader in the back row,
carving the desk w/ his own isolation.
There's a cat somewhere--
"Taxidermy" or "Taxi" for short...
a fluffy friendly thing like a electrified Gene Wilder hairpiece.
"Taxi" hops up onto the sofa as I give my pitch,
show the monologue clip from "AERO".
All goes well.

We originally schedule a shoot for early summer
but the timetable will change several times over the next few months
w/ "AERO" Final Model FX, Annette's video.
It will constantly seem like the project that is many months afar...
when early November rolls around I'm stunned!
The long escalator ride is now a step-up entrance
& I feel so behind.
But all's gradually in place over these months...
the 2 pp of storyboards per week in Sep & Oct.
The budget & equipment updates in Oct.
The tick-tick of GETTING-IT-DONE.

Edrie is proactive.
She secures the barn location early on.
She follows up w/ Peggy, the website woman
who will be handling the video's animation.
I cc Walter in all E-M correspondence but it is always Edrie
I'll ask the multiple questions.
The band is a far cry from Annette...
mid-20's & in the thick of ambition.
Poor but hungry.
They'll have the next couple years to make/break this music thing
& they seem to know it.
Constantly touring--even in Europe & the West Coast.
The name-dropping & pen-pal'ing ie. Tiger Lillies, Amander Palmer
The music video is another device
to get the word out.
Holding on album #2 until the promotion is strong.
I admire them.
I empathize w/ them.

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OK. Where was I?
Oh yes. The music video shoot was just about to begin.

TO BE CONTINUED