There was an event last night that was very different from any music event the DC area has seen before.  Out at the Rock N’ Roll Hotel four DC area artists (Alexis George, Flo Anito, Practically Einstein and Modern Thieves with Marcus Johnson) premiered music videos.  The man behind it all was Francisco Campos-Lopez, an aspiring Chilean born director, who impressed the audience with wonderfully done videos showing DC Music with a new flavor.

I’m not going to get into reviewing each of the music videos (I’m putting the links below for each video to see and judge yourselves).  I actually am not a fan of music videos, for reasons I’ll keep to myself right now.  So when I heard my friend Brad Pugh of Practically Einstein note he was doing a music video this summer–I wondered to myself “what’s the point of doing one?”

Well, the answer is pretty simple–it’s not so much the videos that made an impact last night (thought they were really cool and well done)–but it was very apparent that DC’s music community has the potential to involve more than just people writing and performing music.  Alongside the director and four artists, there were other cinematographers, dancers, actors, and the people behind the scenes that made these music videos.  Last night was proof that the DC music community can expand to include others doing their art–even if it’s not music.

And there in itself is the point–those of us just doing music need to look out beyond the venues, fellow songwriters, bands, and studios.  We must connect with people like Francisco Campos-Lopez, who are doing their art, in their own community.  We have much more in common than we probably think with other arts communities in the area.  It’s just a matter of reaching out like Francisco did.

There’s a great story On Tap Magazine did last month, on what they dubbed the videos as from Frankie’s Factory (Francisco’s nickname), and focused on Franciso’s vision on this project.  In it, he says, “NYC is the capital of plays. LA is film. Chicago has advertising. Nashville is country music. I want DC to be the capital of music videos.”  Given the quality of the videos, the stories embedded visually within them, and music going along with them he’s on the right track.  And I hope others like Francisco are inspired to want to direct music videos or create any other type of art that can go hand-in-hand with the DC music community.

Links:

Francisco Campos-Lopez website: http://www.vimeo.com/camposlopez

Alexis George music video: http://www.vimeo.com/16354087 (“Gimme the Mic”)

Flo Anito music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awUicWUKqeg (“Uh-Oh”)

Practically Einstein music video: http://www.vimeo.com/17892253 (“Soldier Girl”)

Modern Theives music video: http://www.vimeo.com/17825731 (“Tequilla Mama”) & http://www.vimeo.com/16415024 (“Pony”)