Scenes From the Fires of Rome Music Video Shoot

NEXT »

As I step out onto a deserted, concrete stretch of East Williamsburg and bid my taxi driver farewell, he reminds me to "make sure you leave before dark." I guess I emanate ingénue. A fashionably dressed trio of 20-somethings flits out of one of the rundown factory buildings that littered the stark landscape; I catch the distinct whiff of Marijuana in a gust of bitter wind. This must be the place.

By the time I arrive at the Fires of Rome "Set in Stone" music video shoot, most of the band members have finished shooting their scenes and are sitting at the white plastic table drinking brews -- shockingly well behaved. There is some discussion of gigs in Paris (home of the band's record label The Hours), bombs exploding in the famous Le Printemps department store, and Americans queuing for the "Royale with Cheese" at the Parisian MacDo's.

A lull comes, and I try to steer the discussion towards the band's conception and evolution. Gunner, the drummer, unravels what seems the non-traditional gestation period that began with songs written by Andrew Wyatt and Michael Tye (while in The AM), recorded by Andrew and Gunner, and then rerecorded with Fires of Rome band mates Matt and Oscar. Yet, despite the unusual beginnings and what feels like a preoccupied attitude, something crystallized: a record release on January 13th, and now a music video. When I ask about upcoming shows, though, the boys hesitate; not till March, I am told.

It's amazing how much standing around goes on at these things, and the utter lack of music considering this is a music video shoot. Expecting to hear some of the band's synthy-pop riffs (comparisons to T-Rex abound), I get a few hushed, rushed voices instead. Antsy, I seek action and I wander towards the set, over cables and dollies, through hapless crewmen. I try my best not to disturb, for soon after my arrival I had gotten the distinct feeling that the video's producer was trailing me -- making sure the flighty PAPERMAG reporter didn't spill her thieved Corona on the ten grand worth of equipment or take flash photos.

Just doing his job, I assume. Putting out fires and keeping the wheels greased for director Matthew Lessner, with whom I have little time to make pleasantries as he is in the midst of orchestrating a dramatic vision filled with hounds, models, and a miasma of white powder. His intensity feels unexpected amid the generally placid set as he composes a shot with a hospital gown-clad woman (Andrew's model+girlfriend and Vogue cover girl Adina Fohlin) flanked by windblown Afghan hounds.

Rumors about said Afghans had occasioned my inbox, so I am pleased they make it to the shoot. Everyone is tickled, though Gunner pronounces annoyance that they have "stolen his haircut." And these dogs have serious resumes. I am informed that the white one is the #1 Afghan hound in the country in 2008 and the black one has modeled for a Ralph Lauren campaign. Pangs of inadequacy course through me.

Not until after I pet the animals do I catch up with front man Andrew. Dressed in a shrunken black suit covered with white powder, he keeps to himself on the set, mostly, which increases my suspicions of amicable distance among the band members. Towering, scruffy, and disarmingly soft-spoken, Andrew tells me he first got the idea to powder his face in concert after an incident with some Plaster of Paris during the remodeling of his Manhattan apartment. Twisting his bushy beard wistfully, he says the powder gives one's appearance an "aboriginal look, the look of an urban maniac."

LISTEN
Fires of Rome - "Set in Stone"