Looking at Apryll Aileen‘s music video for “Don’t Make Me Wait,” you’d think it was simply taking advantage of a nice day in Venice Beach. And you’d be right. But a lot of strange coincidences came together during that one day to fill the video with all kinds of Easter eggs.
“The music video was actually never planned and the fact that it exists is quite serendipitous,” says Aileen.
“It’s all the magic of Andrea Tan (who is on the roof with me in the first rooftop shot). She brought us all together and was the inspiration for this song. If it wasn’t for her, this song wouldn’t exist.”
Aileen had been booked to play the Sounds at the Shore event at the pavilion on Muscle Beach, bringing along her band (which includes Toshi Yanagi and Jimmy Earl from the Jimmy Kimmel Live! Band, and drummer Max MacVeety,) and hired videographer Andrew Kraus to capture the live show.
The song, “Don’t Make Me Wait” was coincidently written at the same location the video was shot. Belonging to co-writer Perry Rod the house is seen in the video with a mural dedicated to pantheism, which Aileen describes as “the idea that everything that exists constitutes a unity and that the all-inclusive unity is divine.”
“For years, I have walked by that house and taken photos and had no idea that I was inside of it when the song ‘Don’t Make Me Wait’ was being written. So when I found out, I asked if I could get ready for my show there and get some video footage,” explains Aileen.
But in a serendipitous turn of events, just as Aileen is preparing for her Muscle Beach show, her producer (who also happens to be the brother of the owner of the house, emails with the final mix of “Don’t Make Me Wait.”
Of course, Andrew Kraus, the videographer, is still there waiting to capture the concert and according Aileen he suggested, “Why don’t we just randomly walk around Venice Beach and get some footage for a possible music video for this song cause it’s dope.”
“So that’s what we did – totally impulsive, no plan of action no idea that we were actually creating a music video,” says Aileen.
From there they spun off into another curious series of events.
“In the shots while I was walking in front of the mural, about fifty tourists stopped and started taking photos of the filming. I tried so hard to not pay attention but it was definitely one of those ‘OMG there are so many people watching me sing and dance past this house right now.'”
“All I kept thinking was ‘It’s ok… you won’t see anyone you know’.”
She was wrong.
The shoot practically turned into a rogues gallery that included everyone from Venice Beach staples to random chance encounters with East Coasters coming out of the woodwork (including Derek Riedle, publisher of Civilized).
It’s a small world. Might as well find yourself in Venice Beach whenever possible.
“When we got onto the sidewalk my friend Gary came running into the shot. He’s the guy you see come running into the shot behind me, a staple of Venice Beach and one of my first Venice friends.”
When Aileen says “first Venice friends” she means it was because of Gary that she eventually made the connection with her bandmates from the Kimmel show.
“Another person towards the end, who is one of my favorite Venice peeps, is Nathan,” says Aileen. “He has played that grand piano on the beach every day for years. He’s homeless but has a sharp mind and an incredible love for playing that piano. He’s incredibly inspirational and over the years, I visit him and help him however I can. He’s incredibly humbling and has a sign on his piano for people to respect animals and treat them kindly. He doesn’t want fame nor riches. He just wants to play piano.”
I am one of the few people he has ever let play his piano, and so I’ve often sang and played on Venice Beach because of his kind soul.”
So if you ever expect to find yourself on the far side of the continent, don’t be surprised to find yourself doing something entirely unexpected with people you never expected to see. Maybe some divine unity will serendipitously bring you all together. Especially if you’re all Maritimers.
And the reason Aileen is wearing headphones throughout the video?
“It was my first time hearing the mix and so in order to sync up my singing with the recording, I had to put my headphones in and dance around Venice Beach singing the song at the top of my lungs. People were watching me, wondering what I was doing, mostly because they couldn’t hear any music!”