Blank Cinema wanted to record a couple songs live off the floor at a great little art gallery in East Vancouver. The first was this cover of High Pressure Days by the Units. We’re happy it was noticed and honoured to see it posted it on The Units Facebook page.

Shooting and editing by Greg.
Recording and Mixing: Mark Crickmay and Ian Huntley.
Shot at the Aeon Gallery in Vancouver.

For anyone living in Vancouver, hearing Cander’s Rain (featuring Lexi Brooks) is an instant anthem for our City. Cander’s lyrics are poetically optimistic even when we are shooting guerrilla-style in freezing rain. A far cry from the big budget videos of the 90′s like this one. Props to all the breakers who came out to dance in these conditions on two separate days. 

directed and shot by greg. concept by greg/cander.

From her 2011 album Wrecked Tangles and Love Knots. Shooting this video in one day was a logistical challenge in planning and executing shots of the couple in the city scenes. Shrinking them down to tiny size was hard too. Ariane and Greg spent days scrounging materials and constructing the little cardboard town, which could have looked spectacular in flames, but we opted for potato-flake snow to better match the music.

directed and shot by greg. concept by greg/am lemire.

Simply put, we’d like to introduce ourselves.  We are Greg and Glen, and this is Heavy Grain.

You can read about us here, if you like, and we summarized our work here, if you like. We won’t repeat ourselves, much. But as a way of introduction let me tell you about a few moments, moments where one beginning inspired this beginning.

It was 1984. It was the revolution. The fresh wave of generation-changing music brought not only new cassettes to buy, but every record had a music video to go with it. My very young mind was being blown by the Thriller album and incredibly bad-ass dance videos that came with it. I was equally accepting of the powerful swagger of Quiet Riot or Van Halen videos. It was Video Hits every day after school, and Good Rockin’ at Midnite every Friday.

Many years later those hooks that were planted in me manifested themselves » I am a visual artist, a designer, and a musician, playing in a band. The mediums are meant to be together, and I have been blessed to be part of them.

And now, an exciting new adventure.  Joining with a best friend who shares much of the same history, experience, and vision.  Its the best way to do business. I’m looking forward to making short, incredible, moving pictures with some great music and great people. A cyber-toast to new beginnings!

So it was fast and furious and insane and cool ~ and all the adjectives we’ve come to hear in relation to NXNE (North by North East), Canada’s largest Music/Film/Interactive Conference/Festival.  Describing is a mouthful itself.

So Greg and I descended on Toronto, a basic registration, a sketched out schedule of ideas for shows and sessions etc; and the expectation for something more.

This post was originally intended to be a cleverly worded summation of the events and people we encountered.  That seems really obvious and mundane.  I had the usual surprises, like Foam Lake (Saskatoon, SK) backing old friend Shuyler Jansen on the patio of the Backpackers Hostel. Great band, great guy. Or ending up at Cherry Colas with members of Selena Gomez’s band, watching Edwin (I Mother Earth) work the back of the room, and being blown away by an old-school (ie NOT indie band) rock band called Rival Sons. Weird combo, I know. But I’ll skip the deep divulging of names and places.

NXNE for us was the chance to introduce ourselves in a great place where bands come together.  And it was great.  I felt a unique energy I never felt at any of these functions before.  I am used to being a band, sheepishly whoring out my handshake hoping the dude on other end is important.  It was refreshing to not be that guy.  Instead we could approach bands, talk about what we do, what we love, and bands could talk to people in the industry who actually wanted to get to know them.  Crazy. What an awesome concept. It was a great feeling and made a lot of new friends.

That was a great welcome to the industry.  Now time for business.  Who wants to make an awesome music video together?

The Singer Gets It Right was a one day blitz shot in Vancouver when F&M was rolling through town on tour. We shot early and fast to get the nude shots in the bag and there were a few curious bystanders by the end of that series. Ryan did a great job singing to the track blasting from a car stereo under a train bridge in East Van. Studios are for chumps. Keep it real.

shot and directed by greg

From Deon Blyan’s album “Turning to Wave”, a track about how time flies in such an incredible city. Hassids, hipsters, flea markets and stoops. But that is only the first day. Brooklyn, we shall return…

directed and shot by greg. concept by greg/deon b.

Loners’ Lullabye is the first video for the Lonely Heart Show’s new album, Hope in Shadows. LHS songwriter Cris Fehr and vocalist evokes the sense of sleepily drowning in a sea of loneliness. This video was shot on the beaches and in the alleyways and apartments of Vancouver in the late spring of 2010.

shot & directed by greg. concept by greg.
featuring leala selina and paul frew.

From the album “Hope In Shadows”, dealing with the personal pain with long distance relationships. Tears on the windshield of life, as someone once said (likely Churchill). It also needs to be said that some of the vibe of this video was inspired this music video for Dead Sound– a favorite from the underrated Raveonettes.

directed and shot by greg. concept by greg
featuring jesse hutch and aisling grace. and the wonderful jukebox at the wallflower diner.

A Little Love Hymn by F&M is the first from their new album, “Sincerely, F&M” (2010 Shameless Records Canada). It is an intimate, understated performance piece shot in the beautiful old Church of our Lord when the band was in Victoria, BC for the western leg of their Canadian tour.

shot & directed by greg.