Video premiere: Honey Child, ‘Gotta Wait Another Night’

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honeychild
Honey Child

Claire McKeown, the mastermind behind L.A. chamber-pop ensemble Honey Child, describes the video for “Gotta Wait Another Night” as “a classic tale of a night in the life of a baroque goddess who takes her nun to the beach.”

Director Dawn Garcia suggested McKeown bring in some of her former looks from past projects as characters for this taco-fueled romp through the L.A. landscape: the powder wig from Dirt Bird and the nun’s habit from McKeown’s past life as an opera singer, worn very well by her friend Daniel Crook, cast as her cigarette-smoking-nun alter ego.

Co-produced by McKeown and Ethan Walter, “Gotta Wait Another Night” was recorded at Eastwest Studios in famed Studio 3, where The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” was engineered. McKeown enjoyed the “wonderland of toys to play with.” She says, “We used ribbon microphones, the echo chamber, Hammond organ, Steinway grand piano, tracked the orchestra live, added a heavenly string section, even ran the lead vocals through a Leslie.” The greatest pay-off in the song is that last minute, where it transforms from Tin Pan Alley to this beautiful orchestral declaration. The voices accompanying McKeown include Dayna Richards (Seasons), Jacquelyn Thropay (The Ross Sea Party), Aimee Jacobs (Burning of Rome, Strawberry Moons) Cynthia Zitter, and Claire Boutelle.

Originally, the video was supposed to culminate in McKeown and her nun wrestling in water, only to be interrupted by a surfer. But on the day of shooting there were no surfers at Matador Beach. McKeown says, “Instead what we were gifted was a beautiful Asian couple taking wedding photos during magic hour which allowed for enough absurdity to make Fellini proud.”

||| Watch: “Gotta Wait Another Night”

||| Live: Honey Child perform Friday night at The Echo. Tickets.