the dotmatrix project

Shayne O’Neill, the mastermind behind FKoN, dropping his songwriting goodness.

For more of Jason’s work, check out his flickr spot.

Stephen…

…Ben…

…and Christine make up The Wigg Report.

Check out more of Doug’s work at Doug Klesch Photography.

No matter where I am, whenever a Morphine song rotates into play, I’m instantly pulled out of whatever hook driven groove that came before it (my music sensibilities tell me that everything is Pop in comparison) and within moments, I’m drifting downstream towards a warm patch of surefire belonging residing behind uncut blades of rich longing.

Mark Sandman, the genius front man and songwriter for the band, embodied a molasses thick smoothness with his brooding tales of desire over a bluesy sliding two-stringed bass — a sound that separated both he and Morphine from 99.9% of the musicians of his time.

Tragically, Sandman passed away of a heart attack, onstage, 10 years ago last month at the age of 46. And with his passing, Morphine immediately came to an end.

As a tribute to his life, Triangle musicians came together last month to produce a cover of Tomorrow. Will Dawson of (the future DMP headliner) The Alcazar Hotel produced, played, and sang for the project along with Katharine Whalen at Studio M in Chapel Hill. Harvey Robinson and the monkeywhale crew beautifully documented the experience.

First, the original song, Tommorow:

Now, the collaborative tribute:

Again — beautiful.

Save the monkeywhale.

Photo By Jason Ellison

Thank you, Shayne.

UPDATE: The live EP is available for download at Amie Street.

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I’ve been going through the records, we’re not getting any better.
Maybe I’m just getting bitter, I don’t really care whatever.
I’m so tired of open warfare, when the point of this was to be best of friends.
We’ve been going round in circles like a plane without an engine
As we spiral down the slipstream of our quickly sinking friendship.
It’s a trainwreck of an ending. It’s the same as if we’d never even met.
And now I’m going through the motions like a drunken ballerina
who is too tired to dance but keeps on getting up to see if
anybody stuck around to see a show that has been over now for days.
And I know that they’re gone but I keep checking anyway.

We’ve been standing here for hours on the edges of a canyon.
I’ve got my side you’ve got yours and we’re both about to fall in.
The pole we hold between us is the only thing that’s keeping us aloft.
And we’re standing in the hallway, both resolved to finally do this.
We each have our guns drawn but neither of us wants to shoot first.
We could stay like this forever. We could stay like this and never leave.
But there are standards I expect our breaking up to measure up to.
When you fall in love as hard and recklessly as you and I do,
It seems that the final act should have the same intensity as the first scene.
If I don’t lose a couple teeth then it just won’t feel real to me.

So we fall onto the floor, not really sure if this
Is breaking bones or making out, maybe a bit of both.
But I won’t look away first. And you won’t look away first.

“It’s a simple proposition,” said the rabbit to the badger,
“I am sure if we’re committed, we could dig our way to China.
Wouldn’t it be great to see The Wall and all those people standing on their heads?”
So they each picked up a shovel, throwing dirt over their shoulders
And with every shovelful, their little hole got a bit deeper
Til they had to climb down in it, just to reach the bottom layer.
They went on like this all night, scooping up and tossing out dirt.
In the morning they realized they weren’t getting any further.
The hole had grown so deep that the dirt they threw kept falling back on them.
Said the badger to rabbit, “I am sure if we continue
We will pull through this on top. Perseverance is a virtue.”
So they scooped it and they tossed while the dirt piled up around their legs.
And in a matter of hours they buried themselves in it.

And we fall onto the floor, not really sure if this
Is breaking bones or making out, maybe a bit of both.
But I won’t look away first. And you won’t look away first.

I’ve been going through the records, we’re not getting any better.
Maybe I’m just getting bitter, I don’t really care whatever.
I’m so tired of open warfare, when the point of this was to be best of friends.
We’ve been going round in circles like a plane without an engine
As we spiral down the slipstream of our quickly sinking friendship.
It’s a trainwreck of an ending. It’s the same as if we’d never even met.
But now I’m going through the motions like a dedicated doctor
Whose patient has been broken with no chance that he’ll recover.
I keep shocking at the body, just trying to make the heartbeat stay.
And I know that it’s gone but I keep trying anyway.

Yeah we fall onto the floor, not really sure if this
Is breaking bones or making out, maybe a bit of both.
But I won’t look away first. And you won’t look away first.
No I won’t look away first. And you won’t look away first.

We connect with our music video directors a number of different ways — some cold call us to get involved, others we hunt down based on filmmaker recommendations. This month’s director for Amplify This w/ The Wigg Report, Louis Bekoe of Distorted Rumble Studios, falls into the latter group.

Let’s get to know the man behind the lens.

DMP: We know people that worked with you at your video production job with the N&R. What was that gig like?
Michael McQueen, your last music video director, pretty much taught me all the stuff I know about news video. As for the gig, I was the one who went out to night clubs where people mistook me for Girls Gone Wild. Ha! Some videos did actually contain nudity, but I was able to block them out… except for one that actually did make it online for all of 5 minutes.

DMP: Ok, so no more clubbing videos. What are you working on now?
LB: I’m working on a movie about beer pong that will go into production in September.

DMP: Nice! Haha! So I’m guessing that you’ve got a pretty particular sense of humor you want to bring out in your films?
LB: I guess so. I really look forward to making a movie where i get to blow things up or smash a car or flip it without using After Effects or one of those programs. And yes, I would love to have my own crew like Broken Lizard for ridiculous comedies one day.

DMP: How long have you been in the film industry?
LB: Actually, I’ve never directed before, unless you count the product commercials I did for my senior project in high school. I haven’t even been so much as a production assistant on a set, so everyday I have to think to myself, “It’s not that hard, is it?”

DMP: That’s the way to be. Thanks for your time, Louis. See you tomorrow night at the show!
LB: You got it.

Morgan McPherson losing herself on the piano and into the mic.

You can see more of Doug’s work at Doug Klesch Photography.

Randy Furches going to work on the guitar.

For more of Stephen’s work, check out CharlesMedia Photography.

I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time with Jim and I can tell you first hand that he’s as generous and likable as he comes off in this wonderful piece by our friends over at Monkeywhale.

Jim’s DMP video is coming up soon, also directed and edited by the formidable talent that is Harvey Robinson.

So do us all a favor and be a hero; save the monkeywhale.

Morgan channeled Tori Amos on the keys all night long.

For more of Stephen’s work, check out CharlesMedia.

Randy Furches letting go.

For more of Doug’s work, see his website.