For the "Don't Crash the Party" campaign I got to step into the role of writer and co-creative director alongside the amazing Nick Tauro Jr. Beyond writing the scripts for the two spots I was invited to compose and produce the original music with some longtime bandmates Nikelle Garcia (also my partner and the spots' intrepid producer) and Casey Mraz. Along with coming up with some ridiculously fun latin and vintage hip-hop tracks we also managed something of a coup when the production team and the agency landed rock star music video director Marc Klasfeld (literally, the guy directs rock stars - www.marcklasfeld.com) who brought along choreographer Richy Jackson. Richy choreographs and creative directs all of Lady Gaga's stuff so, yeah, he's pretty much a big deal too.
One of the big concerns with bringing in so much high-calibre Los Angeles based talent was that we preserve the very unique multi-cultural vibe that is endemic to New Mexico. We were able to mix in some local dancers with a professional LA crew and our largely midi-originated music tracks were re-recorded by some of New Mexico's most distinctive musical acts brought together in a studio and a stage as a New Mexico supergroup of sorts.
The result was a fiesta for the eyes and ears. A bit of music concrete mixed with echoes of Oye Como Va and Burque Blues.
A similar music video approach was employed for the the ZeroProof campaign where we had a trio of the "coolest kids in the room" moving throughout a party convincing other teens that they didn't need to drink to have a great time. By a stroke of sweet divine intersection L.A. Casting scored Savanah Skaggs who was not only the hands-down best choice for the part but just happened to be a Farmington, NM native.
