It’s bad enough that some of us are questioning whether or not we’ll make the cut on anyone’s household bubble, but Adam Baxter’s new video for “All My Friends” takes it to the level. We’re re-opening all the trauma of the Myspace Top 8 and then some, as Baxter includes his friends from across the country, singing along in isolation solidarity. And if you didn’t make it into the video, you’ll have to take that up with Baxter. We weren’t asked either.
Baxter’s “All My Friends” gives a peek into more than twenty different home recording stations across Canada, though the majority of them are in Newfoundland. Despite the sting of having to cut Baxter from our Christmas card list, it is nice to be treated to a view other than our own four walls.
Baxter explains that the song is meant to reflect on the music community of Newfoundland and how coming together for music is something special.
“Now that live music is on pause,” says Baxter, “a song focusing on the light at the end of this musical tunnel may just what musicians and music lovers need to keep their spirits lifted.”
Included in the video, aside from Baxter himself, are Carole Emily Bee (St. John’s, NL), Stuart Gallant (Stephenville, NL), Jordan Young (Bloomfield, NL), Virginia Fudge (St. John’s, NL), Jason Whelan (St. Johns, NL) and Rick Waterman (Corner Brook, NL), along with a chorus of a dozen singers from across Canada.
“I am super proud of that darn ol’ video!” says Bater. “I just put up a generic message on FB and when I had about 30 ask to do it, I took it down! I wrote the song shortly after I moved from St. Johns to Central, NL in 2013. I was missing music and friends back in St. Johns – so I wrote the song as a way to say, ‘The past was sweet and the future will be sweeter – just less frequent’.
Like many musicians, Baxter has had to find some creative solutions to scratch that itch to perform during a time when people can’t come together.
“I wanted to do a social distancing-type video of one of my originals with a solid group of people,” explains Baxter. “Jordan, the mandolin player (one of my tightest pals) suggested doing this one because I had never officially released it. I messaged the people who I thought would be awesome fits. They recorded their audio and video separate – I put all of the audio files together, tried my best to make them sound super great then synced up the video, and did the same thing with the gang vocalists. I’m just trying to make the most of this situation. I learned a lot about audio and video production through this.”