mewithoutYou - "Red Cow & Dorothy" premiere on Pitchfork.tv

daniel davison October 14, 2015

The mewithoutYou video I directed premiered today via Pitchfork.tv and can be seen below. This was a very special project for me. My first music video ever was for mewithoutYou. It was made as a spur of the moment birthday gift for the bands singer, Aaron. My friend Casey and I were bored late one night (probably tired from dumpster diving at the Doritos factory or at the Kodak warehouse, haha) sometime early January 2003, and decided to make a stop motion video to one of the songs from mewithoutYou's then new record "Catch for us the foxes". We made a stop motion video using a shitty minidv camera, and mailed it to Aaron a few days later. The band and label ended up loving it and decided to use it as the official video for "Disaster Tourism".

Anyhow, it was special to get to work with long time friends. We toured the US and Europe together multiple times back in 2002-2004, and have also done some traveling and exploring together outside of music. So to create something together was a real treat... especially a project that lightly involved doing some very open ended travel. These guys have always been an inspiring and amazing group of people/musicians. I'm grateful to call them friends.

For fun, you can see the very old (circa 2003) video I made for "Disaster Tourism" here. Enjoy.

SUPERFORTRESS // CHICAGO

daniel davison September 5, 2015

A fun little video from two afternoons of cycling around downtown Chicago. Shot with a GoPro and an iPhone.

Chicago is a city of magic. Especially when explored via bicycle, jamming Clams Casino. Breathe the air, see the sights, see the humans, see the animals, look up, look away, fill up with gratitude. Spur of the moment. Sloppy + digital. Shot on two late spring/early summer rides through downtown using a GoPro Hero4+ and an iPhone 5s. Music: Clams Casino "Natural" - https://soundcloud.com/clammyclams

Chicago cycling = medicine for the mind, body, spirit, and creativity

daniel davison May 9, 2015

I recently returned from a US tour with ETID. We were supporting The Used. Marmozets and The Eeries were also on the tour. Marmozets are the best band that I've had the privilege of touring with in a very long time. And the best people, we instantly became great friends. It was really nice being back on tour in the US. Got to see lots of friends and family, and get back to some cities that I hadn't visited in some time, which was fantastic.

But alas, I'm home in Chicago. I'd been really missing Chicago and Lake Michigan, especially toward the end of the tour. Biking to the Lake was first thing on my agenda when I returned home. So a couple times in the last few days I've been able to go out for long bikes rides through the city and along the Lakefront Trail. It's absolutely the best way to see Chicago. Everything about it is so good; finding new (to you) hidden corners of the city that you might otherwise have never noticed, getting to see all of the public and street art in the city, riding beneath the towering and beautiful architecture of downtown, and riding along Lake Michigan for miles and miles. It's also inspiring to see how many people are out doing the same exact thing. I love it. It really is medicine for me in so many ways.

I stop at multiple points along the way to have a walk around and take photos with my phone, maybe have a cig, or maybe a cup of coffee. These photos were taken today (Saturday, May 9) and 2 days ago (Thursday, May 7). The juxtaposition of the weather and vibe of these two days was pretty incredible. Today was supremely foggy, windy, and cold, while Thursday was literally the absolute perfect Chicago day one could ask for. 85 degrees, sunny, with a nice constant breeze. That's one of the things that I love so much about Chicago, you can never really guess what the weather is going to be like on any given day... or even at any given hour, really. It's always changing. I like that.

It's always a nice surprise to be featured on the VSCO Grid.

daniel davison March 18, 2015

Many thanks to VSCO for yet another feature on their Grid. Click the grid image below to check it out.

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SWEDEN: 2 shows, old friends, Sunshine, beers, and lots of coffee.

daniel davison March 6, 2015

I love Sweden. I've loved Sweden since my first trip here in 2006. I came here with Norma Jean in the Fall of '06 to shoot two music videos for songs from "Redeemer" ("songs sound much sadder" and "Blueprints for future homes"). We stayed in Skellefteå for a few days shooting videos with the bad ass guys from Popcore Films. The highlight of the trip was the last night BBQ at one of the directors parents houses, on the Baltic Sea. This is where I first experienced a wood burning hot tub. We soaked in the hot tub, then would jump in the freezing cold Sea, then back into the tub. Repeat. How could one not love Sweden?

My second trip to Sweden was a quick stop in July 2011 with Underoath to play the Peace and Love Festival. Had a great time even though it was such a short stay. Got to see The Stokes, M.I.A., and Atmosphere play. A quick Google to remember when this fest was resulted in finding this dumb photo of me while playing the fest, haha:

So yesterday was my first time back to Sweden since 2011. This was my first show in Stockholm. Had a great time! Here's a little video from the show.

Got to see some old friends from Blindside, whom I hadn't seen in years. It was so good to see them. Before the show they took me for a beer in the Södermalm neighborhood of Stockholm, which was really nice. After the show we went to a great bar called Gondolen, which overlooked all of downtown Stockholm. Was a very inspiring and life giving evening.

Today I woke up in Gothenburg. Immediately headed out in search of Coffee. Ended up spending a few hours reading, drinking coffee, and eating amazing pastry at a fantastic little cafe De Matteo. Was a perfectly crisp day outside, the sun shining bright.

Before the show I was able to explore the city a bit, walking toward the sun for a mile or two. The light was incredible. Found a perfect patio bar at Barabicu. Enjoyed a beer while the sun set.

On the way back to the club, I couldn't help but stop for another coffee at De Matteo. The show was another great one. Had a ton of fun playing to a bunch of new people. Stoked to come back, hopefully soon!

Now we are off to Antwerp.