Premier: Spencer Hoffman Shares Themes of Self-Reflection, Transformation and Perseverance in Music Video for “Goat’s Head”
LIFE UNFOLDS LIKE CHAPTERS OF A BOOK — you never know where it can take you. As we continue to walk through each chapter, we never know what to expect as we experience all the events and life changes we go on. Spencer Hoffman returns with his sophomore EP, Roses Fly, following his debut EP, Flower From Behind, and debut album, Apple Core. With each project that Hoffman releases, he shares pages from his story with the audience. Going through some of his own massive shifts within the current phase in his life, Roses Fly shares personal experiences of the tumult of loss, exploring a longing for what isn’t, and taking stock of what is. The creation of Roses Fly began in Hoffman’s apartment and was completed by Nik Freitas at his home studio.
One of the tracks off Roses Fly, “Goat’s Head," is accompanied by a music video directed by Andrew Hilmes. After chatting with Hoffman, themes such as reflection, transformation, and perseverance were identified as the focus of the MV.
Hoffman and Hilmes shared a love of “the avant-garde and early film techniques from directors such as Georges Méliès,” Hilmes said. “Goat’s Head” was filmed using Hoffman’s personal 8 mm film camera. Hilmes dreamt up the “concept of a cowboy out of his element who decides to lean into a [literal] transformative experience, resulting in him stepping into a new form of power,” Hilmes added. Like the rest of Hoffman’s work, Roses Fly is another heartfelt masterpiece where Hoffman wears his heart on his sleeve while evolving his sound and capturing the audience with his poetic songwriting abilities.
Read more down below on the making of “Goat’s Head,” the work Hoffman has done with his collaborators, and some upcoming plans for 2024.
LUNA: Hey, Spencer! As always, It's great to have you back! How has 2024 been treating you?
HOFFMAN: Hey Lilah! Great to be here. 2024 has been A-OK. I just have been putting my head down and doing the work. I am currently working on my second LP with Sam Plecker.
LUNA: Can you talk to us about your EP Roses Fly?
HOFFMAN: I wrote the EP during a month-long School of Song course put on by my musical hero, Scott McMicken (of Dr. Dog). I was going through a pretty massive shift in my life. A relationship I had been in for over a decade was unraveling. I was keeping a day job and taking whatever music gigs I could on top of it to keep afloat after rent and bills. The lack of sleep was starting to wear on me. I was probably self-medicating a bit as well. I think that a sense of alienation is present throughout the four songs, brought on by a need for self-reflection without the time to do so. “Hummingbird” and “What it Seems To Be” seem especially coherent compared to how I was living and thinking at the time.
Later on, after a lot of the dust had settled in my life, I was at a show talking with my friend Nik Freitas, who said I should send him over some tunes to work on. He had just finished his album Cheer Up, Cadiz, which is out now and everyone should listen to. I think he wanted to have some fun with stuff he didn’t have to be precious about. I had these aforementioned demos I was sitting on from the class that were definitely their own thing, but I didn’t know what I was going to do with them. So I sent the demos to Nik. I was a fan of Nik’s long before we became friends and knew he would do something I’d like. But what I got back were fully fleshed out arrangements, carefully mixed. Often the file was accompanied by a single word in the email when he sent it over, “Fun!” It was like listening to an album I made and forgot about. Kind of perfect for the feeling I have about these songs. I decided I’d put them out basically as-is.
LUNA: Let’s talk about the MV for “Goat’s Head.” Can you tell me what sparked the overall story of the MV?
HOFFMAN: Let me get the video’s director, Andrew Hilmes, on the line. I think he would better explain where his head was at.
HILMES: I was inspired to tell this story based off an initial conversation I had with Spencer regarding the themes of “Goat's Head.” We kept circling back to ideas of reflection, transformation, and overall perseverance. I was left thinking about the excitement of "what's beyond the veil.” With that in mind, along with our shared reverence for the avant-garde and early film techniques from directors like Georges Méliès, I dreamt up this concept of a cowboy out of his element who decides to lean into a [literal] transformative experience, resulting in him stepping into a new form of power. This narrative immediately felt queer, which is what inspired me to use a single actor expressing gender, strength, and glamor in different ways. My hope was that people could come away from the video feeling capable of the same. As playful as the video is, I wanted a narrative that expressed as much emotion as the song itself. This was a challenge, considering how full of feeling Spencer's track is, but one that I have been more than happy to take on.
LUNA: The MV was shot on your personal 8 mm film camera. What made you want to shoot on film as opposed to digital?
HOFFMAN: I did a few music videos for previous releases and had the most fun when I worked on VHS (see Corey Leiter’s “Oxytocin Sundae”). Looking back it makes sense that the same reason I like starting with tape while recording music translates to the video production as well. It bakes in a vibe immediately, so you aren’t as concerned with what you can overlay digitally to achieve the same end. There is also kind of a natural romance to it as well. You are going in blind, you can’t review what you have until after the film is developed. It makes you more vigilant during the filming process. Also, how else am I going to justify collecting old things if I don’t invent ways I need to use them? I was happy when Andrew indulged me in my suggestion of using it. We traded some old 8 mm works back and forth while he came up with the concept. Georges Méliès, Mack Sennet, Buster Keaton. I live right next to an old Mack Sennet studio right now and love watching old clips filmed on familiar city streets.
LUNA: Were there any musical influences for this EP?
HOFFMAN: As a whole, I wasn’t thinking about any artists in particular. I was likely drawing on the influences that are so deeply ingrained in me by now that I can’t distinguish them from myself. I definitely felt that I was reaching back into the same bag of tricks as my debut album, Apple Core. Music as a means to self-sooth. I usually end up emulating the music that me and my brother Mason grew up on from the ’60s and ’70s, namely The Zombies, The Kinks, and The Everly Brothers. There is a more direct influence on the title track “Roses Fly,” which was written as an exercise in trying not to be so precious about the process. The lyrics were derived from Hoagy Carmicheal’s “Stardust” and Judee Sill’s “The Kiss” translated back and forth from different languages on Google translate. Then I shifted it around like a found poem and added some words of my own to fill in the gaps.
LUNA: “What It Seems to Be” was the song that stood out to me on the EP. Can you tell me more about it?
HOFFMAN: I wrote that song in part as a response to my father. He was apparently really worried about me going down a path of vice, ill health, and depravity based on what he was seeing from afar. I think he was more perceptive than I was at the time about where my life was headed. The lyrics come across to me as ironic. There’s a counting of blessings (friends, rice, tomatoes, my partner) amidst admitting that I was broke and my sense of purpose got lost somewhere along the way. Namely, I had a lot of naive expectations about pursuing music, and just enough luck and validation from those I admire to keep those expectations elevated throughout my twenties. By this point I felt like I ran out of luck and the reality of the music industry changed beyond what I thought I was capable of interacting with. The chorus, “Seems like all you ever wanted, comes just as you lose belief…” was a reflection on a moment where I gave up trying to win the attention and admiration of a particular musician I had listened to since I was 14, who I had several opportunities to work with over the years but nothing quite materialized. I wanted to reclaim my position as a mere fan, instead of trying to be their peer or protégé. In a matter of a week, I received a long and touching message from them saying they listened to my music and saw themself in it.
It was really important to me, but at the same time I was asking myself, “But what does it mean? Why do I need validation from others anyway?”
LUNA: Can you share how it was like working with Andrew Hilmes in the filming of “Goat’s Head”?
HOFFMAN: Working with Andrew was great. He approached me about making a music video after hearing one of my songs on the streaming service that shall not be named. I gave him some weird limitations but wanted him to be totally free to do what he wanted within those limitations. I think the resulting piece is fascinating and a perfect companion to “Goat’s Head.”
LUNA: Any other plans for 2024?
HOFFMAN: I have it in my head that I am going to write a first draft of a novel, do a couple half marathons and finish my next record.
LUNA: Question for fun: If I remember correctly, I know you are into poetry. What has been your current rotation of poetry books or poets you’ve been into lately?
HOFFMAN: Always: Percy Shelley, Mary Oliver, William Carlos Williams, William Blake. Currently: Mahmoud Darwish, and, aptly, Neruda’s “The Poet”.
