Behind "Heathens" - Twenty One Pilots Cover

Download this track: https://chelseyjoy.bandcamp.com/track/heathens-single

The Music Video

A few friends and I took a trip down to one of my favorite locations to film the video for my piano and electronic cover of "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots. This awesome abandoned house is located in Thistle, Utah. I've filmed two previous music videos here, "Breath and Dust" and "Heaven Rain." It's been interesting to see how the graffiti and house have changed over the years. It's a shame that people frequently go there and destroy a little bit every time. One day I'll take a trip up there and there will be nothing left. :( 

Before we filmed this video I was already convinced that this location was haunted. However, a couple of interesting things happened to reaffirm this belief:

While Preston Lange, the videographer, (he filmed my Linkin Park cover last month) was filming the camera would automatically go in and out of focus without any cause. And, when he was using his glide to steady the camera for a smooth shot, for some reason it would keep going off balance, not a little, but a lot. The readings said that everything should have been balanced. I think some spirits were having fun with us. 

I appreciate my friends, Elizabeth, Emily, and Lisa, who all took the day to help me with this shoot. Originally we had planned to have at least ten people be there so it had more of a rave / party vibe, but unfortunately, most cancelled last minute. 

Back at the beginning of September I was watching one of my YouTube Subscriptions, Simply Three, play their version of this song. I was really digging it and immediately went down to my studio to arrange my own. At the time I was trying to arrange a couple of other songs to release in October, but both had hit mental blocks. Fortunately this one flew once I got it started. 

I decided that the nature of the song would make it a great release for the month of October. Though we filmed it in the middle of the month, I didn't get completed video back until the day of Halloween. My goal is to release a new music video monthly, and I had to release it then, or else I would have skipped October completely. In a way it turned out kind of perfect.

The keyboard for this video is unique. I disassembled an old one and made a smaller, more Frankenstein-esque version. Check out how I did it here: