Scott Collins looks done for: marched through grasslands at gunpoint, shovel shackled over his shoulder like a yoke. One thing his executioner forgot, though. When making someone dig their own grave, never let them pick their spot.
The Austin-based songwriter’s new video for “Something Different Here,” conceived by Jonatan Sandoval Leyva and co-directed by Andrew Sauer, employs stark imagery and harsh action reminiscent of vintage Westerns. It follows Collins as his old gang boss, played by musician Jason Patten, overtakes him and forces him to dig up buried loot. The cowboy crime story materializes in fitting complement to the staccato acoustic groove and lyrical meditation on death and redemption from last year’s Frenchie Smith-helmed EP, Roadmaps.
”Westerns, in my opinion, are very hard to get right,” Collins explains. “I spent two years watching Turner Classic Movies and I saw a lot of the great Westerns. When [Sandoval Leyva] approached me with this story, I liked that it wasn’t just wake up, ride off on a horse, shoot a guy, come home.
“It was psychological.”
The video screens tonight at Mohawk.
Along with a performance from Collins, the show also features Cover Letter and the Black & White Years. Can Collins survive the deadly betrayal? Find out right now, with an advance look at “Something Different Here.”
This article appears in July 19 • 2019.