Not every record release is monumental enough to warrant its very own video press kit, but Blind Melon's soon-to-be-released Soup is. Shot in and around New Orleans, the video exposes the true essence of the band and their environment, including a blue collar-type offering his incoherent definition of a "blind melon;" a couple montages of homeless people, old people and black people; a dapper- looking Shannon Hoon hanging at the courthouse; and assorted clips of Blind Melon taking it to the streets.
Although it's all too complicated to detail frame-by-frame, we did transcribe some of the dialogue of the five laconic Melon men and their sage Alan Alda-esque record producer, Andy Wallace. Each one is shot separately in different locations, although only Melon No. 1 -- a recently shorn Shannon Hoon -- was filmed in a properly lit television studio set-up.
Rest assured, the video's tone is almost entirely reverential. It's all a blur, but it's definitely not a joke.
Melon 2: My name's Rogers, I, uh, play guitar in, uh, the rock group Blind Melon, and, uh, this is my house that I rent in New Orleans -- 750 dollars, which I feel is a fair deal, considering the condition of the roof ... [takes puff of cigarette and stares into distance]
Melon 1: And these cats in New Orleans, boy ... they'd whip a cat's ass from fuckin' Indiana like that [snaps fingers].
Melon 3: It's great to be around artists while they're making their art ...
Melon 4: Yeah, I've been living out here for a year. It's been interesting. It's been very interesting.
Melon 2: I ... [pause] ... love life in New Orleans for a number of reasons. This city has so much character, I feel this is one of this ... one of the great cities. There's a high regard for art and architecture and music and all that stuff here.
Producer: I never worked here before, no. Actually, I heard about the studio but I didn't know too much about it -- when we decided to do the album together, the band said they had come across a studio here that they were really keen on using.
Melon 5: The house is great, y'know, it's like no other studio. You don't feel like a rat... y'know, in a, in a room... with people watching you and recording. It's just, it's just like a house, people hanging out and, y'know, some mikes around. It's very low key, very laid back... it's, it's been fun.
Melon 3: I mean, Andy Wallace, the guy we're [yawn] doin' the, producing the thing -- he's good, he's the first guy we've ever used who's actually like a real producer, who actually came in and said, `Y'know, I don't like this, let's do that,' without being too terribly obtrusive. He's been very, very helpful.
Producer: All the band members have been really good at ... y'know, they care and they wanna do what they need to do to make a record. So there's been no problems and they seem to be very agreeable to my ... approach. And, of course, there's always a thrill a minute, uh, around here, so, uh, between various hospitalizations and, um, court cases [chortles].
Melon 2: This is Shannon's car, he bought this car. Uh, I dunno, he paid very little for this car.
Melon 5: Y'know what, we don't ... we never discuss anything -- so we never know where we're goin' or what we're doin', we just kinda ... we just kinda do it, it's never really like discussed or thought out, like we should head this direction. We just -- we just, y'know, play music, and ...
Melon 2: I feel like it's coming out, uh, good. I feel like we made improvements over, uh, the last record in ... in the, y'know, aspects of writing songs.
Melon 3: The playing's a lot better, the writing's a lot better ...
Melon 4: The album so far? I think it's a lot. [nodding] There's a lot of songs.
Melon 1: It just breaks up the monotony. I don't like to talk about the same thing too much ...
Melon 5: So, every song that gets brought into the band always, y'know, changes and evolves into, hopefully, something better than when you wrote it by yourself.
Melon 1: We put it together like a puzzle, yeah.
Melon 2: This, uh ... car, uh, will have to be moved at some point by Shannon, we're not sure ... how we're gonna get it out of here.