On April 26, Chicago-based band Red Scarves released their fantastic new album Nice Try. ICYMI, we devoted a full week leading up to its release celebrating the band, featuring an essay from member Braden Poole, an in-depth interview, and an essay by Robby Kuntz.
Today we’re excited to put the spotlight on the group again, this time premiering the music video for the band’s new single “Missed Approach.” Director Olivia Luna (who has directed a couple of the band’s other videos including “Runner” which we premiered), shot the video with the band at small airport near Chesterfield, MO which is just outside of St. Louis.
Below, member Braden Poole, who wrote the song, explains the story behind the song and video:
“Right before the pandemic hit, I had received an hour-long flight simulator session for Christmas from my fiancée. I had always toyed with the idea of one day being able to fly a plane. My mom got her pilots license after she graduated college and that notion had always stuck with me. Maybe I could get my pilots license one day. Or maybe I would have the chance to fly a plane one day.
I started writing a fictional story about a visually impaired air traffic controller wanting to become a pilot. It was fun to write something not so serious and it became a great little escape once mid-March hit and life screeched to a halt.
Fast forward 4 years and we were on a tarmac filming the music video for ‘Missed Approach’ using 16mm and 8mm film. I wanted the video to be fun and dream-like since that is what it was. This band always tends to lead to my dreams becoming reality.”
Luna was also kind enough to share a few thoughts:
“This music video is set in both reality and imagination, echoing the theme of the song. We chose to shoot on film because it gave us that feeling of watching a fond memory. The black and white footage of the band against the imaginative look of the color film
created contrast between the storytelling of the (rather unfortunate) story and the dream of the main character. The soft grain of the film shows the childlike wonder of flying as well as the vintage feel of pilot movies, like Top Gun or The Right Stuff.
It’s always fun to see the band playing together, both instrumentally and as a group of friends. I’m always so happy to see how the music videos showcase the camaraderie of the band. They’ve been playing together for so long and there’s a lot of love between them. You can tell that they put care into everything they make together, and I’m so glad to be welcomed and entrusted to create their art with them.”
Joshua is co-founder of Scummy Water Tower. He’s freelanced for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including: Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Guitar World, MTV News, Grammy.com, Chicago Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, MKE Lifestyle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, A.V. Club, SPIN, Alternative Press, Under the Radar, Paste, PopMatters, American Songwriter, and Relix. You can email him at josh@scummywatertower.com.
