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Windsor, ONTARIO [Thursday, August 4, 2022] – Visually stimulating and emotionally heartfelt, The Bishop Boys blend theatre, cinematography and extravagant set design in their latest music video for “Guelph Riff.” The song is a favourite from the band’s debut full-length album, “Old Friends, Brief Ends,” and is the feature track of a new musical short film created in collaboration with local filmmaker Elliott Hale. Watch the music video HERE.
Driving, up-beat, and packed with interweaving melodies, The Bishop Boys’ “Guelph Riff” is a rich sonic representation of the infatuation of new love. In line with the duo’s previously released catalogue of Canadian indie-rock, this song evokes the warm feelings of laid-back summer nights, and makes for the perfect road trip soundtrack. Austin Di Pietro and Andrew Adoranti’s unison vocals blend together into what has become their uniquely characteristic sound. The album, written over the course of nine years, is a coming-of-age story riddled with themes of unrequited love, carefree summer nights, and the sobering inevitability of growing up.
A brain child of Di Pietro and Hale, the video is set in four seasons, each having its own distinct set design and colour scheme – a metaphor for the different “seasons of life.” It opens with ‘Spring’ and shows the duo working on a song, while their surroundings change to reflect different moods, stages, and hint at the passage of time. When ‘Winter’ finally arrives, the colour scheme shifts to a cold blue and the characters (Adoranti and Di Pietro) look melancholic and dejected, symbolizing the difficulties we face in life and the mundane. The video then bursts into an exciting succession of quick shots from all four sets that feels like a flashback, concluding with an unresolved shot of the duo walking off screen, leaving the viewer to wonder what’s next.
The influence of Wes Anderson’s cinematography quickly becomes apparent with the symmetrical framing of shots, flat composition, and strong emphasis on colours to help establish mood. As Di Pietro explains, though, it wasn’t just Anderson’s visuals that inspired them: “I think our music deals with a lot of the same over-arching themes present in Wes Anderson’s movies – coming of age, young love, and the complexities of friendship. Of course, we love his unique visual style and the quirkiness of it, but we also really identify with his characters and narrative.” The video deals with these weighty themes all while keeping a light and comedic tone, and features an abundance of hidden gems – some that might only become apparent after a few passes. One moment in particular shows the characters breaking the ‘fourth wall’ by holding up a mirror on camera to reveal the entire film crew!
With the help of a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, The Bishop Boys joined forces with established local filmmaker Elliott Hale and his seven-person crew at Kordazone Theatre in Windsor to film the extravagant production. The project brought together primarily Windsor-based film industry professionals and musicians, and a few former Windsorites now living in Toronto and working in the film industry: Douglas Cunningham, gaffer (Toronto); Timothy Den Otter, key grip (Windsor); Nathan Bergs, production designer (Kingsville); Vy Nguyen, 1st AC (Toronto); Mitch Branget, swing (Windsor); Nikko Ocampo, stills (Windsor); and Matthieu Cummings, PA (Windsor). The grant also allowed them to contract a Toronto-based professional colorist and cinematographer, Morgana McKenzie, who helped to design the video’s colour scheme in post-production to align with the intended style and mood. Austin Di Pietro explains their thinking behind bringing in such a big team: “We tried to do a similar ‘Wes Anderson’ inspired video in the past with our song ‘Dark Days’ and it did pretty well, but because we had a bigger budget this time around, we really wanted to take it to the next level and raise the bar for the quality of work being made in this region.”
About The Bishop Boys
Trademark unison vocals, poetic lyricism, and effortlessly nuanced musicianship: these are the defining assets of The Bishop Boys, a young musical duo who are studiously redefining the singer-songwriter genre. As musicians who cut their teeth on jazz from a young age, Austin Di Pietro and Andrew Adoranti are well-known throughout Windsor as sought-after accompanists and core players of the Windsor jazz ensemble, Coffee House Combo. The Bishop Boys emerged in 2017 as a full-fledged 11-piece band fronted by the duo, immediately selling out venues and showcasing at festivals across the Windsor-Essex region. While the COVID-19 pandemic may have put a halt to the group’s live performances, it has certainly not impacted their creative output — the duo released two singles in August 2020 and February 2021 respectively. A recent single, “Dark Days,” garnered a significant amount of attention from local and international media outlets and music blogs because of its pandemic-inspired lyrics and music video, and even earned them a spot in the top 100 for CBC Music’s Toyota Searchlight 2021 Contest – a huge accomplishment considering the more than 2,400 contestants from all across Canada. They released their debut full-length album titled “Old Friends, Brief Ends” on June 3rd, 2022 to rave reviews and have already started working on their next album.
www.bishopboysband.com
About Soul City Music Co-op
Launched on January 1st, 2020, the Soul City Music Co-op is not your traditional music label. Co- founded by Windsor singer-songwriters Mike Hargreaves and Crissi Cochrane, the label takes no percentage of its artists’ earnings or rights, and instead fosters sustainable self-managed music careers through mentorship, solidarity, and skill-sharing. The label features a small but growing roster of nine diverse Windsor artists – Brendan Scot Friel, The Bishop Boys, Crissi Cochrane, Madeline Doornaert, Max Marshall, Dane Roberts, Lisha Racquelle, Michael Hargreaves, and The Family Soul.
www.soulcitymusiccoop.com
About Canada Council for the Arts
The Canada Council for the Arts contributes to the vibrancy of a creative and diverse arts and literary scene and supports its presence across Canada and around the world. The Council is Canada’s public arts funder, with a mandate to “foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.” The Council’s grants, services, initiatives, prizes, and payments support Canadian artists, authors, and arts groups and organizations. This support allows them to pursue artistic expression, create works of art, and promote and disseminate the arts and literature. Through its arts funding, communications, research, and promotion activities, the Council fosters ever-growing engagement of Canadians and international audiences in the arts. The Council’s Public Lending Right (PLR) program makes annual payments to creators whose works are held in Canadian public libraries. The Council’s Art Bank operates art rental programs and helps further public engagement with contemporary arts through exhibition and outreach activities. The Council is responsible for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, which promotes the values and programs of UNESCO to contribute to a future of peace, reconciliation, equity, and sustainable development.
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WATCH THE “GUELPH RIFF” MUSIC VIDEO ON YOUTUBE:
STREAM THE NEW ALBUM, “OLD FRIENDS, BRIEF ENDS” HERE:
https://linktr.ee/bishopboys