Wintry Music Videos: White Hinterland – Ring The Bell & S. Carey – Fire-Scene

This past winter season has been sheer insanity in North America, with overwhelming snowstorms galore, polar bears being taken indoors, and more, more, more. What better time, then, to use music videos to explore the beauty of wintry landscapes?

In Dan Huiting‘s work for White Hinterland‘s “Ring The Bell”, Casey Dienel can be seen tunneling through ice caves and fascinating skull-lined passageways; Joe Baughman‘s work for S. Carey‘s “Fire-scene” is a naturalistic treat that shows off the diversity of the Pacific Northwest, as he captures what winter looks like in the desolate spaces where the waters and deserts of Eastern Washington State merge.

S. Carey – “Fire-scene” Music Video

The imagery captured in “Fire-scene” was in part inspired by John Muir — one of S. Carey’s heroes — and fits well with the track’s bare-boned and nostalgic indie folk. In a brief interview with Filter Magazine, director Joe Baughman and S. Carey describe the collaboration, saying:

S.Carey (Musician):
I was drawn to Joe as director / film-maker because of his photographic aesthetic. I was drawn to the desolation of his photos from a recent trip to eastern Washington state – the high desert, cold, but not too snowy, and the vastness of the valleys. Seeing the motion of his shots and elements themselves took his photos to the next level. I challenged him to take some chances with harder edges and darker imagery because although the song sounds smooth and gentle, it comes from a darker place. Joe’s interpretations of the darkness, as well as his juxtapositions of Mother nature vs. Man-made things make the video more thought-provoking.
Joe Baughman (Director):
In order to acquire the images that Sean and I desired, I made my way from Indiana (where waterfalls, etc. are rather scarce) to Spokane, WA and its surrounding area. The magnificence of the winter landscapes were well worth the bitter cold (wind chills far below 0!) and exhaustion I endured (lugging camera equipment for miles through snow and across ice, sometimes with an assistant, sometimes alone). I experienced and captured a plethora of unanticipated images presented to me by Nature herself, as if she desired to add her own voice to the project.

 

“Fire-scene” is the first single from Range of Light, which will be released on April 1st via Jagjaguwar.

 

White Hinterland – “Ring The Bell” Music Video

Emerging from behind the woodwork of 2010’s Kairos, White Hinterland’s Casey Dienel finds herself to be the star of this music video. In an interview with Refinery29, she explains, “Truth is, for a long time I resisted putting myself too forward in the visual side of White Hinterland, but with this record, I’m so proud of the work that I feel I don’t have any reason to hide any longer. I relate to music more on a visual level than a technical one, and besides, making videos is the fun part.”

“Ring The Bell” is the first single from Baby, also out April 1st, on JagJaguwar’s sister label, Dead Oceans.

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Written by
Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Managing Editor of South Seattle Emerald, and Co-Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!, and are pursuing a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.

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