I first met Max while working at Soundstripe in Nashville in 2021. He was one of our video contractors, and we hit it off right away. He’s insatiably creative, the best hang ever, and when he showed me the new track for his solo project Clearhead, this concept dropped on me too. We both liked the idea of mimicking the juxtaposition of the song itself: a lyrically flipping over a table, yet sonically a bop. So, we set out with Napoleon Dynamite, Severance, and Garden State as aesthetic references to bring home the drudgery of mundanity, coupled with a scathing commentary on the dismissal of mental health and the weight of expectations.

We shot in Hawkins Hideaway, a great basement studio in Nashville that’s dripping in the vibes of its Stranger Things namesake. DP Chris Haggerty gave us a perfectly-winking flat ‘interior monologue’ of a look; I had told him I wanted it to feel like we were inside one of Max’s depressive spirals referenced in the song, without resorting to the usual dreary representation and moody cool hues. This project serves as a great example of the right concept being able to work even on a limited budget and crew.