BLACK HELICOPTERS / THE VIDEO

Pianos in New York City / The Video Series Part 3

In previous stories, I detailed two methods of constructing audio/visual compositions for the live performances during my residency at Pianos. “We Will Rock You” was created solely using clips with its associated audio—video as sound source, editor as composer. “A Night In NYC” was constructed in a similar manner but expanded on the concept and added a narrative element by adding drum loops, live bass, and footage. The footage gave the piece a sense of story, a visual elegance, and opened up a palette of possibilities for future video content.

The third method of construction builds on the previous two examples but this time the audio/visual collages find a home on original the grassy knoll album tracks. Tracks edited and repurposed—they are heard, seen, and experienced in a completely new way.

The video for “Black Helicopters,” the lead track on the 1996 release Positive, is an excellent example of this third method of construction. The footage was taken in lower Manhattan just months after 9/11. The subliminal tension-filled footage along with David Crosby’s unpopular “grassy knoll” rant from The Byrd’s 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival performance is a multi-media cocktail for conspiracy theorists. But all this being said, the video simply rocks.