Stephen unveils powerful video for 'Crossfire' - premiere
The video tackles serious issues - from gun violence to homelessness
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Fast rising LA-based artist Stephen has unveiled the video for his recent hit "Crossfire" ahead of the release of his debut album, the premiere of which you can watch here on The Independent.
The "Crossfire" video was shot in Chicago and tackles some serious issues; from gun violence and racism to homelessness and police brutality.
A former student at the University of Miami’s prestigious Frost School of Music, Stephen released his first song as Stephen Swartz in 2012 - "Bullet Train" - which was created in his dorm room and went on to attract an impressive 130 million collective streams.
Stephen says of the video for "Crossfire": "There is a cultural misconception that tragedies require the assignment of blame. Who's fault was it? Who's the bad guy? We only see the aftermath and yet we make up our minds without ever seeing the events leading up.
"I don't believe it's ever this simple, so we created a video that would reveal the complexity of one of today's most controversial and frequent tragedies."
Director Carlos Reyes adds: "Once I was sure I wanted to tell this story, it was immediately obvious that if I was going to have an innocent man being caught in the literal crossfire of a police officer's gun, that I needed to contextualize it within a world.
"I needed to bring in other characters, who else is affected by this issue? It could so easily feel a like a forced commentary on racism and police brutality, even potentially feel exploitative or opportunistic. These tragedies don't occur in a vacuum.
"What followed was an attempt at anchoring the story around our initial concept while introducing other elements and themes the song also provokes and incorporating them within our framework."
Watch the video for "Crossfire" and let us know what you think:
Q&A with Stephen
What have you been listening to recently?
In no particular order, here are just a few — Anderson Paak, Sigur Ros, Eryn Allen Kane, Koda, Borns, Mazde, Life of Pablo (Kanye), Jose Gonzalez, Swell, jimi Hendrix, Soak, Massive Attack,
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What are your plans for summer 2016?
Working on a lot of new music — both for my second album and for other artists. I'll be playing some festivals too.
Also just going to have a good time enjoying my twenties going on adventures with friends new and old.
What was the first gig you ever played, and what’s been the best so far?
First gig was in Santa Barbara- We packed all of my friends from LA in a rented school bus and drove it down to the show. It was really wild.
Favorite gig is probably my hometown show in Vienna Virginia. It was the third show on my Communion tour and I had so many friends there. The energy and love was insane. I remember really opening up as a performer that night.
Stephen's debut album Sincerely is set for release via Halfway House records on 26 April
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