Every so often I really like to shed some light on some really creative, talented, and creative folks within the music scene. In this case, those two folks happen to be Connor Millican and Corey Pane of Idlewilde Creations (http://www.idlewildecreations.com/ ). Connor and Corey started off as two dudes with some cameras, some musical acquaintances and a really good eye for capturing the live emotion of a song. That soon developed into churning out really incredible, well produced music videos and episodes of their Old Guitar series (which happens to be one of the coolest concepts I think I have ever heard of in the music community). I caught up with Connor to ask some questions about that series, current projects, and what the future holds for the multi-media duo.
1. So, you guys have been doing this thing for quite some time now and made a good name for yourself. Tell the good folks who don’t know about Idlewilde Creations what you guys do and who you are?
CM: IdleWilde Creations is a video production company focusing on developing innovative entertainment content for musicians. It all started a little over a year ago when my friend from high school, visual artist Corey Pane and I decided to start making videos for a friends’ band. We didn’t have any experience in video production, but through trial and error we figured out how to make high quality videos. Soon we realized how many musicians out there needed digital content to help grow their public identity. We also realized that these artists are working within a very limited budget. We decided to start a company, and called it IdleWilde Creations. Our vision was to work with musicians who may have budget constraints, but have no shortage of talent. Now we work with a handful of great musicians on a variety of levels, from singer-songwriters filming their first small budget music video, to documenting weekend-long festivals like New England Americana Festival in Harvard Square, in Boston, MA.
2. One of the big projects you guys have been working on is The Old Guitar series. I think this is such an interesting and excellent concept. An old, beat up guitar played by a ton of really excellent musicians. Leveling the playing field, as they say, to really highlight the songwriting and performance of the artist. Who have been some of your favorite artists to shoot so far? How about favorite locations?
CM: The Old Guitar video series was just one of those ideas that crept up on us. After we found the guitar, an old 1960’s Kay acoustic, we filmed a few episodes and before we knew it people were contacting us to be a part of the project. It happened pretty fast like that, and right under our noses. Although we do work very hard to get out to the musicians and edit the videos, all paid for out of pocket by us, the guitar really does most of the work. We just put it in the hands of musicians and film, and magic tends to happen. One of those magical times happened on a trip out to Martha’s Vineyard to film an episodes of The Old Guitar with Nina Violet and her sister Marciana Jones. We had never been to the island before, and Marciana picked us up with musicians Willy Mason as a passenger. We hadn’t planned to film with Willy, but after driving around for a while we ended up in a forest of creaky pine trees where we filmed an on-the-spot performance of Willy’s song “Slow and Steady” accompanied by Marciana on the Harpsichord and vocals. When we are with musicians who are enthusiastic and creative, anything can happen, and that spontaneous creativity is what we want to document. Moments like those are what keep the project alive, and musicians like Willy Mason, Nina Violet, and Marciana Jones are why we keep doing this for free.
3. How would an artist get in touch with you guys about being featured in an Old Guitar episode?
CM: If you want to play The Old Guitar, get in touch with us. The only thing we ask is that your music be original. You can reach me, Connor Millican at (860)-841-7705 or you can email us at idlewildecreations@gmail.com
4. Corey has also been doing portraits from each session and they look insanely awesome. How did that come about? How have the artists been reacting to the incredible drawings?
CM: Corey Pane is a videographer for The Old Guitar, but he also is a very talented artist, and he portrays each musician who has filmed an episode with us in the form of a pencil drawing. For a lot of the artists, it is an added bonus, and they are really excited to see how it comes out. His photo-realistic style of drawing is truly incredible, and these drawings add a depth to the project that I never would have imagined. Check out Corey’s artwork at www.coreypane.com
5. I think one of the most important parts of the production group is that you guys are musicians yourself and you understand and can work with the musicians you are shooting, drawing, recording, etc. Do you feel like that plays a big role in your desire to push Idlewilde forward? Has it been beneficial? Also…tell us about your own band, Wise Old Moon a bit.
CM: Both Corey and I come from a musical background, and I think that does play a big part in our vision of working with musicians. We understand the needs of different artists, and we also know that one product a musician desires could be completely different from the next. While the biggest focus for us right now is idleWilde Creations, our work together filming and producing videos extends beyond that world and blends with our passion of making music together. Corey is the percussionist in our band Wise Old Moon, and I sing and play guitar. The two worlds of music and video production blending really is a great fit. Recently we were hired by a great band, The Meadows Brothers, to produce some videos, and a few months later we had booked a concert together. As we build this creative relationship, I feel it will lead to great things not only with their video projects, but with our musical collaboration as well. Look out for a summer tour featuring Wise Old Moon and The Meadows Brothers! You can see the work we did for them here:
The Meadows Brothers “A Train Makes A Sad, Sad Sound”
TheMeadowsBrothers
“A Train Makes a Sad, Sad Sound” copyright 2013 Written by Ian Meadows Video by Idlewilde Creations- Connor Millican and Corey Pane www.meadowsbrothers.com facebook.com/themeadowsbrothers www.idlewildecreations.com
6. So, what does the future hold for you guys? Any dream collaborations? Where do you see the brand of Idlewilde heading?
CM: IdleWilde Creations is undergoing some big changes right now. We’re creating an online store for The Old Guitar where we’ll be putting up T-shirts and other merchandise. We’ve got at least two new episodes of The Old Guitar coming out before the end of this year. We have a few projects that are in the process of being edited, including a promotional video for a band from Rhode Island, as well as a concert video of a 65 person multi-generational choir from Boston. We’re working on revamping our website to feature our latest and greatest, and we have some work lined up to do video production for some commercial businesses. In the future, we plan on continuing our work with The Old Guitar, as well as looking for more musicians who are interested in affordable, high quality video work.
Be sure to check the Idlewilde guys out online at: http://www.idlewildecreations.com/
And more importantly, all of their fantastic videography work on their youtube page: