XVI: HEADED TO THE STREETS PREMIERE // BROOKLYN, MARCH 31

Join us March 31 for the HEADED TO THE STREETS music video premiere.

This will be a special evening of film, music, and art:

“Headed to the Streets,” the final track off the Die Jim Crow EP, was recorded in an unconventional manner to say the least. The song is the brainchild of B.L. Shirelle, who wrote the lyrics in the summer of 2015 during the last few months of her incarceration at SCI Muncy (Pennsylvania). Her words were then sent to Anthony McKinney and Mark Springer at Warren Correctional Institution in Lebanon, Ohio, where Fury Young and dr. Israel were set to record in November 2015. McKinney and Springer worked together in co-composing the song, and in November the instrumental was laid down with McKinney on drums and vocal, Springer on keys, Derrick Foley on guitar, and Sedrick Franklin on synth bass. When B.L. was released shortly after, her vocals were recorded in her hometown of Philly. An epic lead guitar outro was the final piece of the puzzle, and James Joseph Gallagher (gHSTS & gUITARS) laid down his solo at revolutionsound here in Brooklyn. Gallagher is a reputable NYC/Amsterdam busker who spent his youth in and out of juvenile facilities.

The music video is directed by Fury Young, the producer and founder of Die Jim Crow. Young, whose artistic background is originally in film, had the video concept in mind for years, and held on to a giant metal birdcage for months in his grandparent’s driveway knowing that it would eventually make an appearance on the beach.

“Headed” was shot in several locations, including the NYC F train, the forests of Jackson NJ, and two Ohio prisons. McKinney, who is serving a life sentence for a murder he maintains he did not commit, filmed himself through jpay “videogram,” a 30-second video telegram for people inside. This footage is interspersed throughout the video as a composited image among the various locations (see above rendering of Ant on the TV inside the cage).

Alternate flyer featuring still from “Short Life of a Gangsta” music video, dir. by Phil Maillard (1993)

In addition to the premiere for “Headed to the Streets,” we will be screening “The Maxwell Melvins Interview Part 3: Producing Lifers Group” (23 min, 2018), the final installment of a documentary series with Grammy-nominated Lifers Group founder Maxwell Melvins. “Part 3” will kick off the evening at 8PM, with Melvins in person for an introduction to the film.

In between “Part 3” and screening “Headed,” Die Jim Crow artists B.L. Shirelle, Carl Dukes, and Apostle Heloise will join us for a live musical performance. As a grand finale, the “Headed to the Streets” music video premiere will close out the evening.

Also featured will be artwork from prisons across the country.

“Don’t Ever Give Up!” by Michael Howard. Glass etching. Angola prison, 2015.

Be sure to RSVP on Eventbrite or facebook. $10 suggested donation at door. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. All proceeds go to Die Jim Crow.