A Conversation With Adrian Younge: A Brief Glimpse Into The Thoughts Behind The "Shot Me In The Heart" Music Video

Having been involved with the Original Score for the film "Black Dynamite," I've had the chance to sit down with editor/producer/composer Adrian Younge on numerous occasions. With the upcoming release of the film on DVD & Blu-Ray (February 16th), the release of the music-video for "Shot Me In The Heart," live dates (Jan 22nd & 23rd) at the ASCAP Music Cafe at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival & (March 18th) at the SXSW Film & Music Festival in Austin, Texas for the Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra, we decided to take some time out to spotlight the inspirations, decisions, and thought processes behind the making of both the video and song...


V4G: What was your inspiration behind the music-video for "Shot Me In The Heart"?

AY: In the video, we wanted to capture the feeling of "old soul." The movie, “The Five Heartbeats” captured this sentiment very, very well. We were therefore inspired by this movie heavily; we also took alot of inspiration from the book, “Light: On the Southside.” This Numero Group release is an archive of pictures that was taken from 1975 to 1977, at a club in the southside of Chicago. It's a very intensely detailed book, and the music featured within the accompanied compilation is a must have for any funk & soul lovers collection...

V4G: Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration for the music?

AY: The song is basically a mix of dark soul published by labels such as Stax Records from the late 1960's & 1970's. It combines a mixture of psychedelic rock & soul, meshed together under the superlative vocals of Loren Oden (who played Leon St. James in the film "Black Dynamite, spokesperson for "Anaconda Malt Liquour"). It's definitely one of my favorite tracks from the score, and was concieved after the film's production had concluded, so I was able to give the track (along with a few of the other bonus cuts) my undivided attention...


V4G: Approaching this video in the aspect of a "short film" -- has it lead you to approach song writing & composing in a different manner all together? I.E., while writing, do you think about what would conicide visually with the song if it were to ever become a video in the future?

AY: Well, the music comes first; the music is supposed to survive without a visual, regardless. I always approach a song in terms of it's own story, or journey, if you will. The only time I would approach a song differently is if I am actually scoring the music for a film, to the film. In this scenario, my job would be to enhance the video via the music; in this instance, the song was already completed, and I was basically editing the film to music, and my goal was to enhance the music with video. To enhance the "musical" moments.


V4G: How much forethought went into the overall writing of the song? Did you have the instruments and topic already chosen before recording, or did you just pick up the bass, or have a seat in front of the Rhodes and just "have at it"?

AY: A lot of thought went into this song, as well as a lot of changes at the beginning. (Vinyl4Giants actually has 2 completely different version of this song, one being an instrumental version inspired by the Jackson 5, the other a rougher version of the final cut, with both Adrian Younge & Loren Oden sharing vocal duties...) I was listening to the Stax anthology over and over, and became inspired; I wrote the song on bass & organ. Thereafter, I called Loren Oden into the studio, and we began composing the lyrics. The topic wasn’t chosen until after the music was written; however, we wanted to play with the juxtaposition of lyrics dealing with happiness and love on top of this dark instrumental that had been written.


V4G: Loren Oden (who also played Leon St. James in the film) really embodies a persona while doing the vocals on this track, both on the album and with your live performances. How much weight does that bare on which direction a song will take?

AY: None, actually. Loren can adapt to anything. Any song. Any situation. I can create something outta left field and he will always take it to that "next" level. We really make a good team together because no explanation is needed for either direction. He understands the logistics of “getting into character” which is something he did for every song on the "Black Dynamite" Original Score. Black people had different diction in the 60's & 70's, and he always understands his responsibility in becoming a character from that era.


V4G: Being an instrumentalist, first and foremost, I've heard your backing vocalists voice frustration that you "cover-up" backing keys & textures with instruments before they even have a chance to come into the studio to record. Do you feel that that pigeon-holes them while creating their vocals, or allows more room for them to shine? (No pun intended...)

AY: Well, when I create a song, there is always the question as to whether or not background vocals will be necessary at all. If the song is already full enough, there will be no need; I am a very independant musician... A lot of it has to do with the overall timing and scheduling. The vocalists I chose to work with are very creative, and very intellegent. They know when the cup is already full. They are very cognizant of when a song doesn’t need anything extra.


V4G: Can you tell us a little bit about the director, and why he was chosen for this project?

AY: The Director of "Shot Me In The Heart" is David Wong; he is a very skilled and educated director. My first choice was Scott Sanders (director of Black Dynamite) because we have tons of experience working one another, however, he was in Europe during the shoot, so I called on my equally competent friend, David Wong. We have worked with each other on other film projects, and I knew he would do a good job; he actually exceeded my expectations. He also brought in Mark Austin as Director of Photography, who was essential in establishing the style and look of the film.


V4G: Out of all the tracks off of the Black Dynamite Original Score, why did you choose "Shot Me In The Heart" to showcase as a music video or "short film"?

AY: The video was shot in conjuction with the Converse. And actually, an earlier version of the video exists where there's a bit of a confrontation between the other band members and Loren Oden, all of this cut over the instrumental track "Rafelli Chase." Converse was kind enough to publish an exclusive 45" record of “Rafelli’s Chase” prior to the commencement of the Video. These limited edition records were sent out to Wax Poetics subscribers as a bonus for subscribing (please subscribe to Wax Poetics!). Wax Poetics & Converse developed the notion of creating a video for the 45" record, and I wanted to incorporate “Shot Me In The Heart” into it, so we decided to synthesize the two songs into one. I wanted to incorporate "Shot Me In The Heart" because of the message that was conveyed in the song. I also thought it would be more appealing visually than just hearing "Rafelli’s Chase" over visuals... It's just funny how things worked out in reverse...



This interview was conducted in January of 2010, and since then, the video has recieved critical support by fans across the internet. Adrian Younge, The Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra, the production staff, and the people involved with this production would like to thank everyone for the support that has been recieved since the release of this video. Wax Poetics magazine has been kind enough to feature a photo spread of the making of the video in issue #40, which is in stores now... We now present to you, "Shot Me In The Heart" --