Zone Magazine Issue 033 - Jan Johnson

Dear Zone Readers
Making Our Music Video – by Coco Street
Let's face it. We all know the game has changed in every domain in all the world.
COVID-19 is the great disruptor that has forced the music world to move forward, in my
opinion, much like the disruption from radio to moving pictures, and of silent movies to talkies.
Not every silent movie star remained a star during talkies... and those who weren't stars
became stars! Which leads me to the video Eddie Amador and I made for our single "What's
Going On."
We saw so much violence happening to people of color and felt the apparent disconnect
between compassion and indifference. We could not allow COVID and shutdowns to remove
our ability to communicate the message of love and hope. So we invested in creating a music
video all about the change we need to survive; specifically, that of hate to love. Through a
very good friend of mine, we found videographer Christopher George to direct the video. His
vision greatly solidified our message and truly brought it to life!
We all decided to bring our city, Los Angeles, into the house music conversation regarding
social injustices. There is footage from the civil rights era to 2020. Eddie’s conversation brings
to the fore the issue of the “mom and pop” stores that appear to be dwindling in Los Angeles.
For me, I wanted to bring to everyone’s mind the “pandemic” that has preexisted our current
one: homelessness. So we filmed our city scenes in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles with
pandemic lockdown in full swing. The video addresses this with a young Latinx fashion
designer, taking her talents to make masks to help slow the spread of the virus. You’ll see
boarded up windows and shuttered stores with roll top security doors and deserted streets that
are usually bustling and filled with people shopping for their families.
When our video premiered on December 6th, we received many well wishes and appreciation
for the message; but perhaps the most cherished response came from Motown Royalty. A
member of the legendary Supremes, Ms. Scherrie Payne, stopped by to say how much she
loved the work. Ms. Payne, along with Reggie Dozier (who mixed and mastered the Radio Edit
and Long Version of our release), were good friends with Marvin Gaye. Eddie and I are grateful
to have had the opportunity to add our take of this timeless classic! Check out our video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-maSv60z8U
Please send emails to: eddie@zone-magazine.eu
Kindly
Eddie Amador
It’s a Spiritual Thing , A Body Thing, a Soul Thing!