Johan had been looking for a project where he could delve into the landscape of human darkness.

I wanted to do something in Black and White. So he picked the four songs he thought could fit best and created a story line around them. I loved the ideas he came up with.

Of course I was nervous about doing so much acting. I think I got away with it alright, as it involved actually singing some of the lyrics. As we talked about it I came up with the idea of a priest. Johan who’s father was a theologian loved it. It sat well inside the Bergman universe too.

These songs are off my album Pains And Pleasures of Intimacy and this album has a confessional quality to it.

I don’t want to live with a closet filled with dirty secrets, filled with skeletons weighing me down and by the time I go to the next world and everything will be revealed anyway, I want to be free. This was kind of the purpose of this record.

As for the video you can follow the story in the video and see it all for yourself, but what I thought could be interesting is to talk about the songs and what went into making them.

The first song is LAY DOWN IN THE DARK

“Dead Man in the Closet” was the first video we shot in this 4 part video series. Johan Anderson and Brad Simpson located a bar near Brads hometown: Hightstown.

I felt good about this typical New Jersey drive through town, as it was smack in the middle of a Springsteen-esque landscape, a feel and a surrounding that really spoke to what this record “Pains and pleasures of Intimacy” is all about.

As the song kicks off a woman walks in. She sits down. It’s her; the woman who caught his eye while giving a sermon earlier. Did the priest know she would be here? Is he following her? Or is this a chance meeting? We don’t know.

The priest walks over to her. Conversation takes off. But something is going on behind them. A group of people appear. They are dancing, trance like. It’s not the best of vibes.

To be honest, what I really like about this video is the simple light effect that goes on when the “narrator” sings the lyrics of the song. Johan made a wall and punched a number of holes in it. He set up the wall behind the stage and a big stage light behind that again and then had a guy move the light around while I was performing. It created a simple, beautiful and powerful effect.

I also want to comment on Brads and Johans pick for the two other characters in this series: Chelsea Coles and G.Paul Salvetti. These two guys fits the bill perfectly. We get to know them a little bit better in this video.

I remember that recording this song the drummer; Arthur Kam kept saying how it gave him the chills. It almost looked like he didn’t want to walk down to the basement alone where the drum room was located. He he… excellent drumming though!

Arthur Kam here with Taylor Hawkins from Foo Fighters

Do you have a song that gives you the chills? Leave me a comment. I’d like to hear it!

“Dead Man in the Closet” is really about keeping secrets. Things you tuck away and you don’t want anybody to see. Little skeletons that sits hidden in a room in your mind and the only problem is that they pop up from time to time.

If you have too many of those, and life can become very complicated.

I have had many such secrets. For instance my fear of people, or rather fear of putting myself in situations where people might laugh at me or judge me. I’d like to come off as smart and confident, but I actually feel intimidated and out of place in most social settings. So I avoid them. Problem is of course; if you want to be a musician you have to get in front of people.

I developed a serious stage fright, that got so bad I had to get professional help for it. More about that in a later post.