Ben Tennett
Apr 18, 20212 min
Last week I had the absolute pleasure of reuniting with the Easy Life lads and crew to
shoot the band’s new single ‘Skeletons’ for Jimmy Kimmel Live!
I was a little apprehensive having not been on the road for just over a year, it was a bittersweet day knowing tonnes of my friends and colleagues are still yet to return to work but I was so excited to be back. None the less, there was an early start in Leicester to load up the van and we were on the way.
So I have to be real here, with Covid-19 still being a concern for many, I was very inquisitive on how things would work. Would the studio have 2 meter markers like the shops? Am I going to be expected to wear a hazmat suit? In all seriousness, the health and safety was amazing and not once did I feel like I was at risk. Before we were even allowed into the building, everyone had to be Covid tested and wait for their results. Covid tests are second nature to me now with teaching but I have to say there was a something quite funny about us all sneezing after the tests.
To everyone’s delight/relief we all tested negative so onwards we went. First job for me was locating a new display head that was being delivered to the venue. With a new album campaign comes a new drum head. This one is a favourite, we are yet to name the fish!
The set for this shoot was absolutely insane, I’ve never worked on something with such an incredible set. After setting up and sound-checking, I made a few small tweaks to tuning and the lads came down from styling to begin filming. Usually when the lads are performing, it’s go time and the the attention levels are high. However with it being a shoot, we had a fair bit of down time whilst the camera crew got what they needed.
After a couple of hours shooting, it was everyone’s favourite time... CATERING. An incredible Curry and boat load of banter later, we went back to finish the shoot and wrap up!
Being the constant perfectionist that I am, before the lads began shooting again I had a quick check on tuning and cleaned up some of the chroming so it looked super sharp on camera. The lads were filming cutaways at this point so it was super close up shots of the Kit. An hour or so later we heard those anticipated words ‘It’s a Wrap’. After whooping and cheering the pack down and load out began.
Despite being apprehensive about the day, within minutes I was back in the swing of things and loved every second! Sometimes you don’t realise what you’re missing until you stop doing it but it was incredible to be back!
Check out the performance below.