The Moldy Peaches’ Adam Green and acclaimed actor Tyler Labine (“New Amsterdam” and Tucker and Dale vs Evil”) appeared in a new music video for the Brooklyn-based songwriter Willis Willis.
Willis Willis is a solo project from Brooklyn resident Jeremy Willis, who is the singer/songwriter of Brooklyn-based bands Cathy and The Listeners and an acclaimed painter and the owner of one of the owners of Nicky’s Unisex in Williamsburg. The music video, entitled “French Cottage,” was filmed entirely inside Nicky’s Unisex as well as Willis’ paint studio.
“Working on this video really reminded me that I have built a great community of fellow artists and friends in my years in New York. Adam Green and Tyler Labine are both really great friends and I was excited and flattered that they wanted to be involved,” said Willis. “Sometimes in creative life, you find yourself lucky enough to collaborate with people who have real vision, motivation and expertise to really see it through.”
The music video features Green as a supernatural figure who splits Willis into three doppelgangers fighting over control in Willis’ visions. Labine appears at the end of the video to give a haunting speech as to the bottomless nature of desire, paying homage to Rod Serling in “The Twilight Zone.” The video also incorporates paintings that were done by Willis himself.
“I have known Adam Green since around 2003. I’m pretty sure we first met backstage at a Libertines show (but those were blurry times ha),” said Willis “Adam put on the bald cap for the final scenes as a last-minute decision. It happened naturally, as did the big group sing at the end. I painted all the paintings you see.”
The video was directed by Dylan Mars Greenberg, singer for the NYC-based band Theophobia. She has directed music videos for dozens of acclaimed artists and has been previously featured on Adult Swim.
“This is exactly what it felt like to work with Dylan Mars Greenberg. I think you can usually tell when an artist is having a good time with their work, or at least conjuring something in a euphoric state,” said Willis. “Making this album felt that way to me and this video felt like a very natural extension of that. The whole thing has been a blast and I think you can see and hear it.”
For more information about Willis and his art and music, visit willis-willis.
