Tuesday, May 15, 2012

National Public Phil.

The Living Things by Spinto Band. Animated by Phil Davis. Premiered on NPR.org today
One of my favorite games to play is asking people what their best life moments are. I don't mean things that have come from extensive planning and foresight, but times in which you get strange amounts of recognition, positive energy, or mind blowing opportunity from something done on a whim, perhaps, because you loved doing it. It's a sense of floating on air from absolute pride and uncontainable giddiness. 15 minutes of - if not fame - genuine drunk-on-life emotion in which everything feels like it's gone exactly as planned, better than expected, and is beyond what your heart can contain. It's an invitation for my always-too-humble friends to admit their proudest moments, and for me to live them. Recently, my musician friend Thomas was asked to go on tour with a band he spent his entire childhood idolizing. In school, my friend Nick jokingly ran for class president, and when he won the entire school poured into the hallways in a sea of high fives and cheers. My own moments have to do with a standing ovation, an unexpected art show audience, and star being star struck over the phone. There are moments you own by somehow capturing the attention of others and knowing you're effecting something you normally find bigger than yourself.

I can't say with authority what all of my husband Phil's moments have been, but one of them has GOT to be today - when a hand drawn animated music video he's worked on for almost two years had it's official debut on one of our all time favorite websites, NPR's All-Songs-Considered blog. If he doesn't want to claim this as a moment, I think I'll claim it for him - out of pride that I'm married to such a talented fool. It's my favorite thing he's ever made, and it's set to the music of one of my new favorite songs. (Believe me when I say it is the test of a song's catchiness when you live with someone making a music video to it. You will listen to it between 100 and 5,000 times before that video is done. And if somehow you still love the song, then the songsmith should sit down and have one of those moments for himself). This song happens to be Nick Krill's "The Living Things" off THE SPINTO BAND's new album Shy Pursuit. Which I've mentioned in recent posts as an album you ought to own.

My friend Jon Eaton said he looked forward to this blogpost because he knew how much I would gush and swoon over my husband when the time came. But I'm busy witnessing one of these moments I love and hoping that as big as my friends become in life - they'll always be able to recognize these moments when they show up. They are so fleeting, but if you catch them, they're yours alone to keep. To read about Phil's process, and our friends The Spinto Band, visit All Songs Considered.

4 comments:

alethea said...

I love Phil and Rachel!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

So sweet. Thank you. Bob Boilen

Anonymous said...

Q: What do you call Mr. Davis when he's on the radio?

A: National Public Phil!

Yummy & Company said...

yay and wow!!! so excited for you both!!!