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Glitter Wizard — as their name suggests — are a glam band. The members boast stage names like Wendy Stonehenge and Lorfin Terrafor, and call San Francisco their home. They released the six-song EP Kiss the Boot in March, and today (August 19th), they've teamed with Revolver to unveil its epically fun music video.
It's an over-the-top glam-metal puppet extravaganza produced with help from puppeteer Lee Armstrong and lighting designer Bill Ferguson, both of whom worked on Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock. Plus, Spike Slawson of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes voices the host of Pop Toppings, the fictional TV program in the clip.
Watch above.
"'Glitterati' is one of my babies and the first song I wrote when formulating Glitter Wizard's 'Seventies glam' approach for Kiss the Boot," bassist Kandi Moon tells us. "It's a sneaky little pop song based on the songwriting approach we learned from playing an Alice Cooper cover set for our annual Halloween cover showcase — aptly named the Hallorager.
"The Alice Cooper Band were geniuses at being able to write songs that sound approachable and repetitive to the listener, drawing you in with the hooks and not wasting time with too much added fluff. Take 'Under My Wheels,' for example — it sounds like a straightforward song, but when you start to learn the parts you quickly realize almost nothing repeats itself exactly the same way. It's not the usual verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus arrangement by any stretch of the imagination. It's both linear and repetitive at the same time, and to me that's why it is always interesting to listen to.
"I tried to emulate that approach with the structure of 'Glitterati,' whether or not I achieved that is up to you."
Video director and editor Gregory Downing adds: "The idea for the video came when my girlfriend, Dani, and I went to the Jim Henson exhibit at The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. I was totally blown away by the amount of creativity that man had, a true powerhouse. He was DIY to his core, when he had an idea, he instantly set out to bring it to life. I was so inspired by the exhibit, I told my girlfriend I wished I could make a puppet music video paying homage to The Muppet Show, Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem and the iconic 1970s pop music showcases like Top of the Pops, Old Grey Whistle Test, The Midnight Special, etc. Dani asked, "Well, why don't you then?" I had no decent excuse other than I had no idea what I was doing, and that can be easily fixed.
"Glitter Wizard contacted me about making a music video for 'Glitterati' via my production company Bad Acid Presents and it seemed like a perfect fit. I knew nothing about puppets, but Wendy Stonehenge, singer of Glitter Wizard, told me there was an SF Bay Area Puppets Guild. I got in contact with the chairman, Michael Vallejo, and started gathering info about the various studios that exist in the bay area. The studio that seemed like the most feasible option and worked with Muppet-style puppets was Images in Motion in Sonoma, California.
"It was by chance that the owner, Lee Armstrong, and the lighting designer, Bill Ferguson, of Images in Motion worked on Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock in the 1980s, Lee as a puppeteer and Bill in the lighting and grip department. Sometimes things just line up that way and I knew we had to make the video with them.
"With Lee's help, I sourced and recruited a team of puppeteers from the bay area and enlisted Andy Falkner as our Art Director. With some guidance from Lee, Andy single-handedly designed and created all of the puppets and set for the shoot. It was great to work with people who had such a deep lineage in the puppet world and could help guide me on my first venture into puppets. Lee told me that was the spirit of Jim Henson, every shoot he had had puppeteering classes and if you wanted to learn, regardless of your role on set, you could go take the classes. He wanted to share the knowledge of the craft and get as many people involved and interested as he could.
"Spike Slawson of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is a longtime friend. During the pandemic his wife, Audra Angeli-Morse (Dino & Luigi Presents), produced two streaming-only variety show specials called Gimme Gimme TV that I directed and edited. Spike is a great showman and is always down to have fun in front of the camera. He has several cameos in various Glitter Wizard social media videos, most recently he has played a doctor and a reporter. When I was tossing around ideas for the host of Pop Toppings, the fictional pop music tv show in the 'Glitterati' video, he was my first choice. Andy's puppet version of Spike looks so much like Spike it almost gave Spike and Audra a heart attack. I constantly aim for heart-attack adjacent."
See behind-the-scenes photos from the video shoot below.
