Today, the short film entitled “I Don’t Know” by BADBADNOTGOOD is premiered. The title of the film refers to their single of the same name. The film, directed by Los Angeles-based director Will Mayer of Stink Films and made in partnership with WeTransfer and Among Other Things, represents the grieving process one experiences after a loss. Inspired by both Samuel T. Herring’s lyrics for the song and Mayer’s loss of his own father, the video illustrates the battle one endures internally when loosing a loved one, as the protagonist battles physical manifestations of those harrowing emotions.
Mayer had this to say about the film: “This film was more or less a ballet to the five stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Our protagonist fights the battle that we have all fought, only to come out the other side. He ends neither free nor victorious….but alive. Because overcoming grief is never about victory – it’s about perseverance.”
Watch “I Don’t Know” above and see below for tour routing of BADBADNOTGOOD’s Summer European tour and more about the film.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
6/16 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theater
6/17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
7/1 – Sete, France @ Worldwide Festival
7/4 – Vienne, France @ Jazz a Vienne
7/6 – Trencin, Slovakia @ Pohoda Festival
7/7 – Istanbul, Turkey @ Istanbull Jazz Fest
7/10 – Vilnius, Lithuania @ Botanical Gardens
7/12 – Dour, Belgium @ Dour Festival – La Petite Maison
7/13 – Rotterdam, Netherlands @ North Sea Jazz Festival
7/15 – Ferropolis, Germany @ Melt Festival
7/17 – Cascais, Portugal @ EDP Cool Jazz Festival
About “I Don’t Know” courtesy of Will Mayer:
Treading Water
Feeling your limbs fight against the current as you desperately scan the horizon for a spec of salvation, the act of treading water. Loosing a loved one is eerily reminiscent of this sensation. An overwhelming force overtakes you and despite, your best effort you can barely keep your head above the surface. Because this force, once it’s gotten its hold on you, never truly lets go. I spent the better half of a decade fighting this force, grief, off. The harder I fought the tighter its grasp became. As I said you never truly come out a victor in this battle, but eventually you meet this beast in the eyes and allow it to take you where it pleases. Only then, in that quiet moment of acceptance and humility are you free.
“As for grief, you’ll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you’re drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on. For a while, all you can do is float.
Stay alive..” (Unknown Author)
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