Watch Kevin Morby’s OH MY GOD Companion Film

I like Kevin Morby.  I’ve met him, briefly, and he seems like a solid guy.  He also seems like the type of person who has the ability to remain laid back with a good sense of humor, yet hunker down and take his work seriously when it’s time to deliver.  What I’m trying to tell you is that I’ve seen him kick a hacky sack around during the day and, later that night, actively rock an outdoor stage while donning a sport coat and bolo tie.  He also makes some pretty great music, which is important, considering that’s how he pays the mortgage.

What I respect about Morby is that, while he often exudes more of an easy going vibe, he clearly possesses a drive to continue pushing himself forward as an artist.  Whether or not it’s actually how he feels while in the creation process, I can’t say, but he comes across as someone that has located the sweet spot, allowing himself to be gently pulled by inspiration, rather than to struggle against it.

I first became aware of Kevin a full 10 years ago, when I saw him perform live as a mulit-instrumentalist (mostly bass) in the Brooklyn outfit, WOODS.  That same year, he teamed up with Cassie Ramone of Vivian Girls to form the project, The Babies, operating as a member of both groups, simultaneously.  Then, in 2013, we began getting press releases for a debut solo effort titled, Harlem River.  Morby had relocated to Los Angeles and released an LP that was an ode to New York.  The album was put out by Woodsist, reaffirming the idea that his departure from WOODS was unrelated to any sort of conflict within the group.  He walked away from a terrific and established project, and moved to the other side of the country, because there was something in him that he wanted to pursue.  When he wrote his 4th solo album, City Music, back in 2017, he took a different approach by composing on a piano that was left behind by the previous owners of his new home.  It wasn’t an instrument that he was particularly proficient in, at the time, but that only worked to insure that he would be forced to create from a slightly different perspective.  On his latest LP, OH MY GOD, the piano is even more prominent, accented by the inclusion of horns.  These days, the songwriter resides in Kansas City, Missouri, the same town that he fled as a teenager for a life in Brooklyn.  This time he’s left a thriving Los Angeles music scene surrounded by a community of fellow artists to return home and purchase a house in the town where he went to high school.  Morby now has a home studio and a place where he can truly relax from the fast paced world when he returns from tour.

From the outside, it appears that the only thing directing him is whatever feels right for him at any given time.  If he needs to move across the country, he does it.  What will allow him to grow as an artist?  What does he feel like pursuing next and what’s the best way to get there?  Right now, it appears that the answer was to create a short film.  Meant as a companion to OH MY GOD, the 28-minute project is directed by Christopher Good, the same collaborator who has been handling the music videos for the related album, up to this point.  In the short, Morby plays himself, albeit somewhat of a mutated version, as he moves through surreal landscapes emphasized by some beautiful lighting and cinematography.  It’s a striking and engaging piece soundtracked by his music with even a bit of animated psychedelia mixed in for good measure.  You can watch OH MY GOD (The FIlm) in full, following this detailed breakdown of the project by its star, himself.

“After I had chosen to work with director Chris Good for all three of my singles off of Oh My God, it only seemed natural to keep working and make a visual representation for the whole album. I thought it important to capture this time in my life and career. It being my 5th record, I wanted to let listeners in on some of the behind the scenes and inside my head a bit more. We set out to make something that was half documentary and half dreamscape of both my life at the time while living back in Kansas City and the subject matter of the album. 
 
I tend to exaggerate stories a lot of the times when I tell them, but only to do justice to what the experience felt like at the time – and that’s what I believe Chris and I have done with this film. We exaggerate and bend reality, but only in attempt to get a certain mood or feeling across. More than anything, this film was a lot of fun to make and I believe it is a lot of fun to watch. Upon completing the film I want viewers to feel like they had just fallen asleep and had a psychedelic dream while my album played in the room they were sleeping in, gently weaving itself into their dream. We made it entirely in Kansas City with Kansas citizens. Please… sit back, relax and I do hope you enjoy.”

OH MY GOD (the album) is available now in both digital and physical formats.