Since the start of quarantine, I have been compiling film footage for what will eventually be a number of videos. The ultimate plan is that every one of the songs on my new album “The Road” will have its own video for when the album is released but a lot will depend on inspiration, as I don’t just want to do the same thing over and over again…
The song “Far From Home” was the first I wrote for this new project. It was written shortly after I moved into a new rented house in a green part of the city not far from a river. After a hectic few months of moving and changing my day job to start a new career, I finally arrived at a place of peace and the song very much echoes those feelings along with the feelings of rebirth during spring. It also serves as a reminder that no matter how long the winter, or how difficult the times, spring will always come.
I wanted the video to reflect those feelings and now I am nicely settled in my new home, I thought it was the perfect place to start.
Locations
The video was shot entirely during quarantine in the Failsworth area of Manchester which although not famed for its beauty, has some lovely spots if you know where to look! One of these spots is my back yard… so you might need to talk to me before you visit but it is my little area of peace and quiet in a busy city!
I wanted to communicate the passing of time and the change in seasons within the video and while I didn’t have any footage from the winter to make that possible, I feel that the time lapse shots I took showing the movement of plants, shadows and sunsets illustrated the point better than I could have imagined.
The majority of the video including the playing shots was filmed nearby in Daisy Nook country park which sits on the Medlock river in north Manchester. It is a place I have regularly visited walking dogs or conducting environmental surveys so I knew some of the places I wanted to film before even going there. However, there were a few surprises, a lovely gnarly tree in a bluebell meadow and the path up to the top of the meadows were two of the improvised locations we found and the latter features heavily in the video. We were also lucky enough to bump into a squirrel nibbling away on some nuts by a tree so I quickly got him to sign a model release form then asked him to “act natural”…
I hope you enjoy the video:
