"Shan Nash, alone in the desert amidst haunting ruins, grapples with his thoughts while being serenaded by his own poetic musings. He is accompanied by two spectral figures, conjured from his imagination, as he wanders aimlessly."
In 2018, I found myself scrambling to figure out how to market my brand when my cousin who’s DJ name is ‘Shan Nash’, approached me to make a music video for his hit song "Redemption." At the time, I didn't have a clear vision for the video, but the mystical sounds on the track inspired me to take the visuals to the desert. Southern California has some of the most eerie & picturesque desert ecosystems around, and as a self proclaimed desert boy ( hello! I grew up in the middle of a desert!), I knew many of these places in SoCal from my past explorations.
As we hit the road towards Bombay Beach, one of the talents asked me about the premise of the video. My answer? "I don't know, we'll figure it out together." I mean, who needs a plan, right? We're just making a music video, no big deal. I know that's not something that industry people like to hear, but let's be honest, leaving some room for the power of the unknown is never a bad idea. It can make your ideas more present and give you flexibility in a constantly changing workplace environment.
We stopped at Bombay Beach. The temperature was a toasty 105 degrees, but that didn't stop us from getting our shots. After that we drove another 40 minutes to Painted Canyon in Mecca, California and took a 20-minute hike up a narrow canyon to set up a small fire as a backlight for one of the scenes. I had one (non-industry) guy helping me out, and that was it. I shot with two cameras and flew my drone every once in a while in each location.
As a filmmaker and editor, I appreciate a good chunk of b-roll and cutaways to add depth and atmosphere to the final product. But with no room to breathe in the edit, the focus on the talent seemed forced. Lesson learned.
Despite the challenges, the Redemption music video turned out to be one of the main motivators for Shan Nash's breakthrough to a larger demographic. It was streamed on a popular Iranian satellite channel called PMC and kept spreading all across Iran over the course of several months.
Being able to create something valuable for my community is a great reward in and of itself. Watching Shan Nash’s career play out over a decade and watching him go from zero to where he is now is truly inspiring. It's a testament to the power of hard work, dedication, and follow through. We both took untraditional paths and faced many obstacles- but our passion pulled us through. I'm proud to have played a small role in his journey, and I can't wait to see where he goes next.
Thanks for reading,
Shahrooz
