McKinney Falls State Park

  • Austin
  • Central Texas
  • Film
  • Hill Country
  • McKinney Falls
  • Music Video
  • Parks of Texas
  • Texas
  • Videography
  • Waterfall

Back in March I was approached by the folks over at Church of the Friendly Ghost to submit a collaborative audio-visual project for their annual festival, the New Media Art and Sound Summit. Like many other things, this year's NMASS festival happened virtually. COTFG opens space in the Austin scene for experimental musicians to perform, collaborate, and have their work exposed widely. I've worked for them many times, and it was an honor to be asked to participate in the 2021 festival.

I approached my friend Jordan Willis, who does photography and videography on vintage film cameras, to work with me on the video submission for the festival. I would provide the music, and he would work on the visuals. I wrote and recorded a ~15 minute long piece, and we shot footage in natural spaces around Austin, including a day trip at McKinney Falls State Park.

The day we went out there was a threat of rain in the forecast. It had just rained throughout the weeks prior to this little trip, so Onion Creek was very full of water and the falls were flowing strong. We got a lot of footage of and around the Lower Falls, with great shots of the limestone shelf. It started sprinkling, and we were able to get good shots of raindrops falling into puddles. Very ambient. Then it started pouring on us, and we had to sprint back to the car. We got out of the park just as park rangers were heading down to the creek to ask everyone to leave.

I simply want to share the NMASS submission that Jordan and I worked on. It's called Hackberry. The video is below, followed by its description, bios for Jordan and myself, and a link to the song on Bandcamp if you would like to download it.

Hackberry from Jordan Willis on Vimeo.

Hackberry is an audio-visual collaboration between Joey Reyes and Jordan Willis that explores cycles of stasis, movement, time, and rebirth within natural areas. From raindrop to puddle to foam to flowing creek, water accumulates and transforms, in turn transforming the world around it. Shots of the natural world are accompanied with music that similarly builds, layers, and evolves. The visuals are captured on Super 8 film, and the music is performed on cello and loop station.

Joey Reyes (Austin) is a cellist and composer who is trying to write the widest songs possible. Previous compositions have used loops and layers to explore things like burnout, flooded construction equipment, broken glass, and contemplations on whether cats ever occupied the death star. In the last few years Joey has collaborated with Ruby Fray (Emily Beanblossom), Lindsey Verrill, Bill Baird, Matthew Squires, and many more, in addition to his solo works. Several hours of his music can be found here.

Jordan Willis (Austin) is a photographer and filmmaker exploring found scenes within their natural constructs. He has worked in analog film for as long as he can remember. Currently, Jordan is experimenting with Super 8mm film using borrowed cameras. You can see his latest work here.

Hackberry can be streamed at https://joeyreyes.bandcamp.com/album/hackberry.

The full NMASS 2021 festival can be watched here: