VIDEO PREMIERE: High school nostalgia hits Scranton pop punks Anytime Soon in ‘Jelly Donut Season’
COVID-19 prevented most people from having one of those fun summers with friends you never forget, but it didn’t stop Anytime Soon from recreating that feeling in their new music video, despite all the extra work it would take to produce during the pandemic.
The Scranton-based band released their latest single, “Jelly Donut Season,” on Aug. 28, and singer/songwriter Mitch Evans had a wistful pop punk concept in mind that, appropriately, an old high school classmate with a background in film would soon bring to life as they shot on 35mm film at the Scranton Cultural Center, Glass Heart Tattooing & Arts in Plains, and Curry Donuts in Dallas.
“It’s a fun lighthearted and mischievous song hearkening back to the simple high school days of driving around carefree, maybe getting into some trouble. I make a couple references Valley View grads would get,” he told NEPA Scene.
“The video basically mimics the theme of the song, joyriding, throwing things out of cars, pop punk music, waking up after a party in someone’s basement. But then all the music scenes were shot at the Scranton Cultural Center symbolizing the glow-up.
“[The video] just contributes to the overall theme, but I think the film format really ties it together. By shooting with film, the wide angle and fisheye lenses are reminiscent of the pop punk music videos we grew up watching. It also ties together skate culture and early 2000s MTV shows such as ‘Jackass’ and ‘Viva La Bam.’ This allowed us to get some really great footage at the Cultural Center.”
The final product is premiering today exclusively on NEPA Scene and, much like the stars of those aforementioned shows often did, we’re going to take you behind the scenes of the making of the video, where the stories are just as entertaining as the video itself.
“Jelly Donut Season” is the follow-up to “End of an Era,” the first single from Anytime Soon’s upcoming EP that premiered on NEPA Scene in March.
“Right after releasing ‘End of an Era,’ the pandemic hit. We had been recording our new EP ‘Variables’ but lost months from recording and studio time. And there’s no one to blame for that because we clearly didn’t want to put anyone in the band or studio in danger in the early stages of the virus. It was an unfortunate situation and it still is, but we’re not the only ones this has affected – all the arts are in the same boat,” Evans began.
“We were permitted to start the recording process again in July, which is when we immediately released the audio for the song. It had been recorded for the most part but needed some minor adjustments. We felt it was important to release something immediately to let fans know we’re still out here despite the setbacks. And during the recording process part two, since our timeline had been derailed, we took more time than expected and changed some production methods. We started sampling and recording different amps for every song, different tunings, a lot of different experiments. This song was more pop inspired, where another is heavier than anything we’ve done.”
The video’s director, cinematographer, and editor Eric Iyoob fell into place soon after.
“I went to Valley View High School with Eric and knew he had been into videography; we had reached out to him before but nothing really manifested from it until he recently reached out to us. He showed us a recent skate movie he had worked on called ‘Joyride.’ I loved the idea from the beginning. I never really skateboarded but grew up playing ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater,’ and skate culture goes hand in hand with punk and metal. The idea of the video reminded me of old CKY music videos, and Eric really put everything together from there. We had always been interested in making a music video but never had the right opportunity. This lined up perfectly.”
The locations, however, didn’t quite line up as well.
“Shooting during the pandemic was no easy task. First off, we had decided it would be pretty much impossible to shoot any footage during a live show since there were none happening. And even if we had wanted to act out a show for a scene, it would have been irresponsible to assemble that many people, so we knew from the get-go it would be a limited crew. Then we also tried to avoid using masks on set because anyone watching the video would automatically be able to tell when the video was shot; we didn’t want to date ourselves. It was also very difficult to get anyone to work with us booking locations. We had sent many emails, called a ton of people, and left tons of messages. Even for a small three-day shoot, it was difficult to get anyone to cooperate. These are certainly strange times,” he recalled.
“We knew we had wanted to shoot at an older ornate theater – somewhere that had character, somewhere that was going to present well on celluloid film. We had reached out to many stages that fit this description and were pretty much ignored. I’m not sure if it was skepticism because of the virus or blatant apathy, but it was frustrating not even being able to talk to anyone. And keep in mind we were looking to rent the facilities, not asking for handouts – we were trying to spend money! We had some previous correspondence with the Cultural Center in the past, so we pulled some strings and, after many emails, a contract, and waivers, we had it booked. We shot some scenes at my home and got permission to film a scene at the Curry Donuts in Dallas. The tattoo scene was a nightmare. We had a few tattoo shops on board, a primary and some backups, and they all kind of backed out last second, which was confusing because again we were trying to book time and any scene in their shop would have been free promotion. We were on a strict schedule too. Derek Zielinski from Glass Heart Tattoo in Plains really saved the day. He was more than happy to accommodate us and make sure the tattoo scene was as authentic as possible. Also, we had a few vehicles lined up for the drive-by donut scene but, again at the last second, everyone flaked and we ended up using [drummer] Jordan [Lupini]’s car for that scene, which ended up fine, just not the way it was planned.”
On camera, they had to look like they were having the time of their lives, but “it was actually pretty stressful the whole time.”
“We had lots of resources tied up and we only had the gear and locations booked for the weekend, so we pretty much had one shot and everything had to go to plan, and when they didn’t, we had to improvise,” Evans admitted.
“But towards the last day of shooting, I think everyone kind of relaxed and things started falling in place.”
Choosing 35mm film over digital only added to their challenges, but the 26-year-old vocalist and guitarist believes it was worth it.
“While shooting on film was no easy or cheap task, it brings a certain warmth and nostalgia, in my opinion. Really made it more of an art project rather than something cliche like playing instruments in the woods or an abandoned building. It is reminiscent of the music videos we grew up watching. And it’s cool ’cause it’s a bit of a lost art form. I was excited when Eric had suggested it, and I think the picture speaks for itself,” he emphasized.
“I’m a bit of a cinephile but totally lack the knowledge and expertise Eric had on putting the whole production together; none of it would be possible without him. We drove to Manhattan to rent film equipment from a company called Du-All Camera and actually sourced our film in New York City as well. We used Fujifilm Eterna 400T film Eric had sourced from a film organization in NYC that had been in cold storage for about 10 years, so it was a gamble to even use. It was some of the last Fuji celluloid 35mm film in existence. In case we ran out of film, Eric had Kodak Vision3 50D and 500T 35mm film as backup, which was used to film various takes. And for the camera, it was all shot on a customized Arriflex 235 35mm motion picture camera. The video really brought forth a new media for us as a collective, and we’re proud of it.”
Evans and guitarist Adam Martin formed Anytime Soon in 2016 and released their debut EP, “Pandora Songs,” in 2018. The current three-piece lineup featured in the video includes Jordan Lupini on drums and Christopher Benitez on bass.
“Jordan Lupini has been a permanent part of the group for over a year now, but he’s been a big part of the band since the inception. Always a pleasure with him behind the kit. Chris Benitez is the bass player in The Boastfuls. He was nice enough to help film the video to make it look authentic. He has filled in with us in the past and we love playing with him. It’s a weird time to have a solidified lineup or audition new members. No one really knows what the future of live entertainment is going to be like and when it will return. I think Jordan and I are just playing it by ear. It’s something we can worry about when shows start returning. For now, I think our best bet is to keep putting out quality content and writing music,” Evans noted.
While their original timeline was disrupted by COVID-19, the “Variables” EP is back on schedule for release in 2021, when they hope to get back out on stage as a full band.
“As of right now, acoustic gigs with limited attendance are starting to return. Not much glamour in it, but it’s a start. We have one festival booked July 10th of 2021 in Andreas, PA called Punstyria Fest with a new label we’ve been working with called Punkstyria. We linked up with them online with the downtime from COVID – perfect time to network,” he said, thanking their friends and fans for hanging in there and waiting patiently for more music.
“It’s been a rough few months, but we’re working hard to continue making content and hopefully in some time give you one hell of a rock show. Special thanks to Eric Iyoob, for without him this wouldn’t be possible. Other thanks to Brandon Evans; Du-All Camera; Ian, Jack, and Haley at Metropolis Post; Curry Donuts; Derek Zielinski and Glass Heart Tattoo; Jason, Jerry, John, and Maria from the Scranton Cultural Center; Steve Cossman at MONO NO AWARE; Justin Willis; and Jason Riedmiller.”
Check out NEPA Scene’s photos of Anytime Soon performing at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre last year here; learn more about “End of an Era,” the first song from the EP, here; and see more behind-the-scenes photos from their video shoot below.
Photos by Jason Riedmiller Photography
