SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: MITCHELL LEONARD – “COME DOWNSTAIRS”

MITCHELL LEONARD – “COME DOWNSTAIRS”

A Spill Exclusive Video Premiere

“Come Downstairs” is video by musician Mitchell Leonard and animator Haisi Hu. A moving piano-jazz ballad, the accompanying video is breathtakingly beautiful and dark; bringing the music to life in a claymation and animated world full of mysterious creatures and mirages. It explores the moment before death – examining the character’s longing, fear, and numbness.

Mitchell Leonard is a Brooklyn based pianist, composer, and songwriter. This is one of his deepest and most moving tracks yet; he collaborated with claymation/animation artist Haisi Hu for the video, which took over a year to produce. The music was recorded in part by Mitchell Leonard’s good friend and songwriting partner John Creasey, who passed away in early 2016. The project is dedicated to him.

Artist Quotes

“The character’s life seems strikingly alien in flashback, and the resulting pain awakens his love for the world. Haisi created alien landscapes to reflect his feeling of displacement, and I used an undercurrent of sonic textures to give voice to his pain and awakening love for the world he sees in flashback. This is, without a doubt, the most emotionally intense work I have been a part of. From the dedication, to the music, to the imagery, there are worlds below the surface of every layer here.” ~Mitchell Leonard (musician)

“It’s been an intensive, elaborate process, with many technical and conceptual obstacles to overcome.I was inspired by the textures and colors of Max Ernst’s Europe After the Rain and the somber yet disquieting feeling of Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.” ~Haisi Hu (animator)

Mitchell Leonard
[Single]
(Independent)
Release Date: December 8, 2017

Artist Links