By Kathleen Hartsfield
Staff Writer
In fall 2012, members of the Barefoots Joe leadership team began operating Sound On Film, a music video project that has now garnered more than 8,000 page views on the coffee shop’s YouTube channel.
The ongoing project involves the filming of bands that play there – only in unusual locations, such as the post office, the stairs leading to the racquetball courts and in Luther Hall.
Six music videos can be viewed online at youtube.com/barefootsjoe.
“This seemed like another way for Barefoots to promote the arts, while helping the artists promote themselves,” said Joe Dresser, a junior cell and molecular biology major who also serves on the team.
Ben Wright, junior digital media studies major, films and directs the videos, and Brady Heyen, sophomore philosophy major, helps to record and mix the sound.
The team then sends the audio file to 2012 alumnus and former team member Kevin Reed, who masters the track.
When a band performs at the coffee shop, Wright later oversees the filming of one of its songs at another location, often on campus to save time, and said the crew tries to film in an interesting spot that has good acoustics.
Last month, the crew filmed student band Flying Colours in Barefoots’ first off-campus venture, at Steel Fab, Inc., a steel mill in downtown Jackson.
The factory is more than 100 years old.
The project enables Barefoots Joe to engage culture, Dresser said.
“We’re inviting people to see and experience [the artists],” Wright said, adding that Sound On Film allows Barefoots Joe to participate in today’s music conversation.
The project also allows people to see what kind of music is performed there, in five-minute increments, and enables those who missed the show in person to still see it.
Union students can post a link to a Sound On Film video to Facebook or Twitter to share what is going on musically at the university.
Another benefit of the series is publicity for artists who need exposure, Dresser said.
They can post videos to their Facebook pages, websites or Twitter accounts as a way to build a public identity. Individual Sound On Film videos have garnered up to 3,500 views.
This semester, Barefoots Joe has hosted Sanders Bohlke and The Last Bison, but the crew was unable to film The Last Bison.
The team hopes to film two more bands that will perform at Barefoots Joe later this semester. Those bands have yet to be announced.