Singer/songwriter Clay Priskorn never thought that picking up claymation during quarantine would be the visual aesthetic for all of his self-directed, self-produced music videos for his musical project Friends of Clay.
The Agoura Hills, CA native, who is heavily influenced by The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Bowie and Johnny Cash, describes his project as an exciting hybrid of indie, alternative and rock music. “I started playing music when I was 10 years old — I picked up a guitar and haven’t put it down ever since,” he tells Celeb Secrets reporters over the phone.
Earlier today, Clay dropped his newest single “Livin’ Time,” which features his signature guitar-driven sound and most intricate pieces of claymation work to date.
“’Livin’ Time’ was heavily inspired by the 1998 film, ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.’ The track takes you through a journey of highs and lows only possible in Sin City, where dreams are both made and crushed,” says Frontman Clay Priskorn.
“Livin’ Time” is the follow-up to the deeply introspective first singles “Growing Up” and “What Percent Are Monsters” which were released earlier this year. With more singles and a debut EP on the way, Celeb Secrets hops on the phone with Clay to learn more about Friends of Clay, why he chose to pick up claymation during quarantine and what’s next for the budding musician.
Read the full Q&A and listen to “Livin’ Time” below — let us know what you think of it by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @celebscrets.
You can keep up with Clay by giving him a follow on Instagram at @friendsofclayband.
Celeb Secrets: So for readers and future fans of Friends of Clay, can you give us a brief background of who you are and what you do?
Clay Priskorn (Friends of Clay): “I’m a claymation artist and musician. I’m rock musician from Agoura Hills, California. I started playing music when I was 10 years old, I picked up a guitar and haven’t put it down ever since.”
CS: You speak a lot about being both a storyteller in the form of songwriting, but in the form of being a visual storyteller. Why is it so important for your storytelling to transcend different narratives mediums? And how does that help you tell a greater story?
CP: “I think with Claymation, when I first started doing it over quarantine, it took my music like lyrically and melodically to the next level. I was able to like tell my story through Claymation with my music. I feel like when I’m able to like come up with a cool storyline for my music, it really helps get the song across to the listener. And I think that my music is very visual and I always loved storytelling and making visuals for my music. But with this, I was able to create worlds with every song I created. So it’s like every song is a different TV show or narrative. They all intertwine a little bit but I’m going to tie them all in at the end.”
CS: A lot of artists look at the visual form of storytelling with music videos and everything, but Claymation is so unique. What made you want to tell your story visually through Claymation and not just with a standard music video?
CP: “When March hit and everything shut down, I was able to take that time to learn a different skill. Before that, I was actually producing for other artists and writers and I was able to take that time to really dig back into my music. And I was like, ‘hey, I have some time on my hands so I want to do claymation.’ I’ve always like loved watching claymation. I was like, ‘Hey, I’ve done photography and videos so let me try this, let me look at some YouTube videos’ and I was able to tell stories through the claymation and its just progressively getting better. And every video is just being able to take the next step in the development.”
CS: How long does it take for you to make one video?
CP: “My first one surprisingly only took four or five days. And then the editing stuff took another week because I was just learning how to like put all the pictures together. It’s was like 3,000 photos. But then later on for this third video for my newest single ‘Livin’ Time’ coming out in November, I went to Vegas in the video and I have like 10 different set designs that took me like two months.”
CS: Wow. That’s crazy. So for upcoming music, what can fans expect? Is there an EP, album or another single coming soon?
CP: “I’m going to release two or three more singles. So five singles, and then I’m going to drop a 10 track record with it. I have one video I’m in the process of making and it’s called ‘Pretend With Me.’ It’s coming out in the new year. And then my fifth single will be a culmination of all the videos into one. You’ll get to see all the characters in the storyline. And then on that day I’ll drop six or seven more songs. Cause I really want to get the music out there for all the fans.”
CS: That’s super cool. So aside from the Beatles, what are your other inspirations, not just within the medium of music, but storytelling in general?
CP: “I’m a big Quentin Tarantino fan. I’ve been obsessed with his movies since I was like 10. My dad let me watch ‘Pulp Fiction’ at a young age which I don’t know what the best decision (laughs). You know, it really helped me get into film. And there’s other directors like Martin Scorsese. I’ve always loved his writing and directing. I really got into Dave Matthews when I was in college and he really helped me become an artist and a writer because before that, I was a guitar player and I was in bands with other people. But I started looking at him and it helped really shape my musical outlook and what I really wanted to be was an artist. I was able to run with that and it was the best thing ever happened.”
CS: I’m really excited to see where all this goes. I mean, the songs are amazing and the videos are so unique and interesting. So we’re excited! Last but not least I cannot let you go without asking you for a secret! Something that fans might not know about you.
CP: “I’ve been gardening a lot with my mom. I actually picked up gardening. I’ve been helping her a lot with that. It’s not like a secret but no one knows that I Iove gardening.”
CS: Oh, that’s sweet. That’s awesome. Will we see any crossover between maybe the clay animation characters doing some gardening?
CP: “Oh, of course! I have a song called ‘Flowers and Daggers’ that will incorporate a lot of like real life flowers with claymation.”
CS: Oh, sweet. That’s awesome. Well then that’s a great little secret.
