Satellite and The Harpoonist – Satellite Man
2020 · Directed by Breathe Light Media
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Best comments
1.“Coolest ad I've ever gotten.”
More comments
- 2.“I have never seen a bass like that. What is going on there?”
- 3.“Giving me Dr. John vibes, and I fooking love it.”
The story
Shawn Hall spent years as the Harpoonist, singer and harmonica man of the blues duo The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer. In January 2020 he holed up at Afterlife Studios in Vancouver for a self-imposed three-day session with a handpicked crew: Geoff Hillhorst of The Deep Dark Woods on Hammond, piano and synths, Theo Vincent of The Boom Booms on percussion, and Bradford Reed of King Missile III on drums and the Pencilina, a double-necked, zither-like contraption he invented himself. A film crew rolled the whole time. The band that came out of it is Satellite and The Harpoonist, and Satellite Man is the title track of their six-song debut EP.
Hall and co-writer Jonas Shandel wrote it about a recluse living out a careless dream through his TV set, and the craving that follows. Reed told everybody to play it the way Bobbie Gentry would, sleepy and dusty. Hall heard it drifting toward War's take on Ode to Billie Joe crossed with Harry Nilsson's Coconut, and joked that somebody had been spending a lot of time having cocktails with Sammy Davis Jr.
The video is that session: the band playing it live at Afterlife, directed by Breathe Light Media and edited by Peter Ricq. Bluesy piano, a smoky voice and a homemade zither. Cocktail hour for shut-ins.
