Joel Plaskett offers us 'a foggy window' into his mind

Character Witness isn't a music documentary so much as a companion piece to my record, One Real Reveal and the accompanying tour where I shared memories, images and songs while seated in a red swivel chair. 

Working on the video edit with Mike Hall felt a bit like using two mirrors to see the back of my head. Eventually I ended up seeing versions of myself into infinity while wondering, "Do I really look like that from behind?"

While I'm happy to put the producer's feather in my hat, there was no director on this. I like to think that everyone involved helped direct it subconsciously — like hands on a Ouija board. 

I've been thinking a lot this past while on the writing of Marshall McLuhan, in part thanks to a reading course I've been taking from his grandson, Andrew.  The overheated lighting in the interview with me is a not-so-subtle nod to the documentary, "This is Marshall McLuhan: The Medium is the Massage" from 1967.  

Riffing on the effects and limitations of different technologies — from language to analog tape to projected images — it felt fitting to push the lighting, the faders and the stories into the red.   Poetic license for harmonic distortion? 

I'll admit to always feeling a little nervous about how much I want to share outside of the songs I write. I think out loud and I have to circle a point for a while before making it. While I'm less interested in stating things explicitly these days, my hope is Character Witness offers a foggy window into how my mind meanders, my music and methods and the places and people I care about.

I sure love hearing Bill Stevenson's keyboard playing, seeing Rebecca Kraatz's beautiful artwork and I'm pleased Jim Carrey could unwittingly make a cameo.