'Gone' Video Premiere

Today marks the release of our video for Toronto dream pop duo Soft Set. The concept for the video was to plunge the viewer into a fond and distant memory; hazy, impressionistic, fragments of colour and light smudged together into a temporal frenzy.

On the night of the shoot, we arrived early. The location, if you’re unfamiliar to Toronto, is the vibrant neighbourhood of Roncesvalles. We met up at the Local (the bar featured in the video), and sat with the band on the patio discussing how the night would go while we waited for the talent to arrive. But as the minutes ticked on, the worry set in.

Half an hour passed with many texts and calls unanswered from someone who supposedly lived close by. It was a blow. One of the band members disappeared into the bar for a few minutes. We’d have to postpone to another night and find a new lead. Then the band member (I’m withholding their name in case they don’t want this story told) returned and said “We’re good to go.”

We understood that to mean that the performer had finally texted back and was on their way, but no. A young woman stepped out and we were introduced. Our new lead was someone passing time in the bar waiting for her partner to finish their shift.

We had planned to shoot for as long as 4 hours, maybe more. We managed to squeeze in 2, circling the area collecting as much footage as possible. She was great. Her incredible patience and a natural ease on camera led to a surprisingly successful night. We’re grateful she was such a generous, easy-going person.

While we never received any follow-up about the original performer, all we can say is that we hope they’re okay. They surely had their reasons, even if it was cold feet. No hard feelings.