Last year, on a frigid fall day, singer/songwriter Jesse Thom hiked into Lake Edith to shoot a music video in support of his new solo record, Snowdragons.
The Dirty Grace drummer, who spent the first five years of his life in Hinton, said it was important to capture footage in the area, in honour of his brother.
“My older brother, who the song is about, was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in Hinton. So that’s the world where this song takes place—in those mountains and in that area.”
Thom was five when his brother Alex was diagnosed. Alex was eight.
“It was discovered quite late,” he said. So, to ensure Alex had the best care possible, Thom’s family relocated to Vancouver and Alex moved into the children’s hospital, where he lived out his final days.
“I feel like I lost my childhood when Alex died,” said Thom, whose video for “Marrow” captures a visceral sense of childhood innocence and impermanence through images of kids tobogganing in Whistler.
Thom said when he was filming in Jasper, the sun was just going down and the temperature was dropping.
“It was so cold my iPod kept freezing,” he recalled with a laugh, explaining that in order to make a music video you have to sing along with your recording.
He said because of the constant glitches, all of the outtakes from the day are of him swearing.
The takes that did make it into the video, however, are black and white images of Thom singing amongst the trees next to Lake Edith.
To see the video, which features Thom’s sister Rachel on backup vocals, or to hear more of his solo work, visit www.jessethom.com.
Nicole Veerman [email protected]
