HAWAII | February 14, 2023: The music video “Sweet” shot on location in Hawaii by Chloe Gifkins of the alt-indie duo The Moonlit Strays is released on YouTube today, Feb 14th. As with any art or music created by the Moonlit Strays, you can’t have any expectations, you can only dive in head first and know that it will be an adventure. “Sweet” brings you visual joy. With only the most basic shooting schedule possible, no script, and no rules, cinematographer Chloe Gifkins can’t help but shoot a video that is every alt-musician’s dream world. In creating this video, she touches every detail involved from the clothes worn, the cars driven, to the interior set designs used to define her world of cool, define her world of underground art and alternative lifestyle. Raised on a beach, Gifkins is a product of both New Zealand and her Hamptons childhood where she met her musical collaborator Mike Abiuso. She grew up with a camera and a surfboard and makes a yearly pilgrimage to Hawaii where she is known as a professional photographer. When not writing music with Abiuso, Gifkins shoots surf culture and fellow musicians and is known on both coasts of the US for her photography. Her fellow Stray Mike Abiuso is known for his accomplishments in audio production, songwriting, and commercial and Indie Film scores.
From Chloe Gifkins:
“Sweet is a shameless love ballad I wrote as a nod to the Doo-wop style of love songs I was inspired by growing up. Released as the first single for our sophomore album Dreaming in the Pink Room, this video is a love letter to both my person and my place. We filmed in Hawaii where I live part of the year and I felt it was the setting that most perfectly fit with that feeling of warm, sun-soaked bliss that Sweet embodies. Whether it is a signifier for a lover a friend or family member this song is a celebration of that affection.”
From Mike Abiuso:
“Everything I do with Chloe is an adventure, for better or for best, including this music video for “Sweet”. When going to Hawaii to visit Chloe, she had the plan of shooting a music video, which in my mind means, “maybe we’ll shoot some footage, or maybe we’ll just take mushrooms and get lost in some shrubs”, the actuality was kind of the best of both worlds, we were enjoying a few beverages, I was toying around on the drum kit that was in the living room, Chloe was noodling around on a guitar and tossing around some fun outfits for us to try on (as always), Dane the videographer that lived with Chloe at the time overheard the racket, came out of his room and starting shooting some footage. In my mind we were all just having fun, but before we knew it, we were setting up different lights and shots, dancing, signing, went to the beach, found the most gorgeous rainbow and some random kids that wanted to be a part of the adventure, threw a house party, went hiking, camping, did karaoke, you name it…I wasn’t sure what was happening at any point and was uncertain if any of the footage would actually turn into a video, but sure enough, a couple of weeks went by and Chloe sent me what may have been some of the most heartwarming, fun, organic footage I’ve ever seen. That in a nutshell is the dynamic of the way Chloe and I work together on projects. We never know what’s happening, but something is always happening and it’s always fun as hell and that’s why Chloe means the world to me and is one of my favorite humans.”
ABOUT:
The Moonlit Strays are lead vocalist and songwriter Chloe Gifkins and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter/producer Mike Abiuso. Music by the Moonlit Strays is produced in Abiuso’s Brooklyn-based Behind the Curtains Media studio.
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