David McHone-Chase was one of the first people I met after moving to Bloomington-Normal (in July 2000). I had gone around town hanging up flyers with a picture of John Cage, looking for others who’d be interested in forming a noise band. David called me. Alas, the day before, I’d been hit by a car while biking, and broken both my arms. (This is true.)
David and I eventually did form a band—three of them, in fact. One of those bands, which included Tim Feeney, eventually somehow became Theory of Brides when Alicia Halm joined as its vocalist. Later, David and Alicia formed the duo Oh, Alchemy.
By 2007, my video career had fallen by the wayside, as I focused on writing. Nonetheless, when David and Alicia asked me to help them to make a video, I was extremely happy to do so. We settled on their song “Theories That Are Televised,” which would eventually end up on their first full-length album, Diplomat (2009, The Path Less Traveled Records).
That June, I took the train down to Bloomington-Normal with the concept in mind. (I’d done some tests in Chicago with my friend Aurora Tabar.)
Setting up and shooting the video proved more complicated than I anticipated, leaving us with little time to actually shoot. I did numerous takes, and my only regret now is that I hadn’t considered how tired my hands and arms would get throughout the evening. The sixth take proved the best one, but by then my hands were shaking more that I would have liked. In retrospect, I should have used a tripod (as a unipod).
The final three shots were inspired, however obliquely, by the opening sequence of Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s brilliant 2004 film Innocence.
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