FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Director Erick Paredes’ short film serves as a psychedelic reminder not to wait for the perfect time
Miami, FL – April 1, 2021 – Released on December 6, 2020, the dystopian, environmental psychedelia “Time is Now” is a culmination of a vision that began nearly a decade ago. Animator and director Erick Paredes, who heads the label Sustainable Music, also produced and composed the music heard in the film, recorded along with the band Agape, which is spearheaded by Paredes and singer / songwriter Nadia Harris. Although the run time is just over 17 minutes, the short film is three separate music videos woven together and serves as a poignant commentary about current events such as the theme of manipulation by the mass media. However, hemmed together, the three are a complete manifestation.
“The first thing I would like the audience to get from it is an introduction to the band and the project,” says Paredes. “Our message is that of one love and harmony, which are the highest feelings and vibrations we have experienced though music and in life. It has always been about being ourselves and embracing our truth and essence. It is about empowering ourselves and others through the creative process, sound, and the arts. Our message.” The idea of making music videos has been an integral part of the band’s creative process from the start, and this project is a continuation of that ethos.
Time is Now is equal parts Spy vs. Spy and Brave New World, is heavy on the HegelianDialectic, and touches on themes of social engineering, propaganda, mind control, and the old socio-political tactic of divide and conquer. What begins as a black and white study on surveillance and digital privacy, ends in a stunningly beautiful, shamanistic release set on the River of Grass. Along for the trip, the viewer travels through Toronto, a favela in Brazil, and winds up in the Florida Everglades. By it Paredes suggests the game is rigged and urges viewers to break free. The downtime afforded by the pandemic allowed for the project to be completed.
The first song and clip featured in the film is “She Really Likes It” begins at the 2:40 mark and represents the “illusion” part of the voyage. This video and segment of the film was directed by Ryan Furlong in Toronto. The song is shot in black and white (reminiscent of film noir) and also in color. The video starts by Nadia ingesting an “A” administered by a Jester/Joker like figure who we see through the whole film. The video has this Alice in Wonderland feel and explores the theme of whether “she really likes it”, which at first seems like a sexual suggestion, but a deeper meaning is revealed at a closer listen and within the context of the film.
The clip ends with a scene leading to the next video that encompasses current events, such as the isolation everyone is feeling due to the pandemic and echoing the social unrest of last summer’s Black Lives Matter and other protests. The music highlights the vocal talents of Harris, while the up-tempo / retro / mod-ish song also showcases the multi-national band that is Agape.
The dub / reggae of the second song in the trilogy of “If Love” at 7:15 marks switch to color and manifests the “realization” part of the journey. The visuals feature the children of Projeto Final Feliz and Dreams Can Be Foundation, and is dedicated to the memory of Marcelo Yuka, the late legendary Brazilian drummer who collaborated with Paredes who along with Christine Clauser helped to facilitate the shoot in Brazil. This segment also echoes the theme of surveillance, and at the end triggers a cinematic “system error” and ushers in the “letting go” passage at 13:33, and was directed by Ryan Furlong.
The viewer, now free from psychological programming and the confines of the past, is welcomed to the final “Row” segment by a vivid color explosion. This musical and visual culmination, set to an electronic dub exploration, celebrates the diversity and vastness of life, and the sanctity of indigenous culture, exploring the Everglades landscape via Tigertail Airboat Tours.
The visuals and the music again work to great effect to discernably transports the observer through a moving canvas. This segment and the collaboration with Executive Producer Houston Cypress was born of the process of Paredes trying to secure passage on an airboat and access to Miccosukee tribal lands. The results were not just the video for “Row”, but the partnership that eventually produced the trilogy, and a 2013 award at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.
Paredes continues: “At the end of all of these ideas and subject matter, the trilogy culminates with ‘Row’, where the premise is to look within, towards the center. To question and let go of the game that is and has been clearly rigged, and to look towards nature and our ancestral guides for harmony, balance, and health for the individual and the whole.” He offers that the piece is a blessing to all.
Time is Now is a warm up to bring to attention to the release of a series of new singles and videos the band is cooking up, an invitation for viewers to join them in an evolving story that is happening now, and reflects the times. “We would like to build and vitalize our following in anticipation of our next song and video, which is called “Love Me Like I Am”, and explores identifying the cycles of trans generation abuse and trauma we all carry.”
Paredes is planning to celebrate the release here in South Florida once conditions allow for a safe gathering of large groups. He is also planning to mint and sell a very limited quantity of NFT art from the imagery found in the film to continue funding this evolving body of work, and help with the preservation of the Everglades. More details are forthcoming.
For more information and to view the film now, visit sustainablemusic.com.
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