Blog — Jonathan Salas

Blisters, dehydration, sunburns and sore legs/feet. Just a couple of things the crew had to deal with for this video shoot. BUUUT we pulled it off! Somehow, someway, we got to top of enchanted rock with all the gear we needed to record this video.

THE SHOOT - It was a struggle climbing up that hill (I’m going to refer to it as a mountain from here on, because it felt like it) and I kept wondering if it was going to be worth it. You never really know when you’re in the moment. But you have to trust your gut. Of course one can’t do anything epic’ish on their own. It takes a good team and I knew I had that. Angela, Serena, Joe and Marcus couldn’t have been a better team for what we were trying to accomplish. In the end, it WAS worth it.

I used a more of a portable handheld from “ZOOM” to record the audio along with some new, less expensive mics, the SM7. So that made the shoot fairly simple and the trip up the “mountain” less cumbersome. But we still needed:

1-GUITAR
1-CAJON
3-MICS
5-STANDS
CAMERA/ 3-LENSES/BATTERIES (all in heavy duty peli case, of course)
1-TRIPOD
1-DRONE
CLOTHES - Yes, we got dressed on the top of the mountain behind a bush. Hopefully no one at the bottom had binoculars.

You may hear a Pedal Steel in the song and wonder “HOW THE HECK DID HE RECORD THAT ON ENCHANTED ROCK!?” – The answer is, I didn’t. I recorded that in the studio after the fact. I will probably keep doing that for other songs as well. Cause I love me some pedal steel!

THE PERFORMANCE - The recording went well honestly. Once we got up there - which took about 30min each time, and we all made 2-3 trips respectively - we knocked out the actual performance in no time. We did a couple of different takes but I used the second to last take because the sunlight/vocals/tempo/vibe was the best overall. It's a fairly short song, so that made it a little easier. The 3 part harmony was awesome, thanks to Ang and Rena.

The Meaning - It was originally inspired by the struggle of David in Psalm 22. “My God, Why have you forsaken me” - It's a feeling we all have felt at some point. I know I have felt it so many times in my life but it's usually a symptom of my own complacency and sin.

So in a way, it’s a song/story about a prodigal son coming back to the father. Asking God to remind him of his goodness, because he has forgotten.

I drifted so far from your presence, take me back. I want to feel your glory again. I want to know who you are, even through my struggle and pain. I need to know you God

(LYRICS)
Open my eyes to see
Your Beauty divine
Open my ears to hear
Your voice in the night

So I will remember who You are
When waters rise
I will remember all You are
When I’m in the fight

Open my heart to feel
Your mercy again
Open the sky to reveal
The kingdom of heaven

So I will remember who You are
In midst of regret
So I will remember who You are
Least I forget

LORD REMIND ME WHO YOU ARE

I stand at the edge of myself
Broken and bound
I’ve fallen so far from my throne
But hope to be found

So I will remember who you are
In my defeat
I will remember who you are
Lord remember me

LORD REMIND ME WHO YOU ARE

Welcome to the first blog post! It's a BTS look at our most recent shoot. Hope you enjoy!

THE SHOOT - I over analyze, I'm an "over-analyzer". It's something that plagues me and in all honesty, I'm probably over analyzing this blog post! But we're gonna make it. This over-analyzing is the main reason I walked away from the Psalm 121 shoot a little deflated. Angela and Joe did great but I didn't think I was at my best and I didn't feel 100%. I had nasal congestion (which I tried to remedy by doing jump-squats right before the take), it was raining (which cluttered the audio), the lighting kept changing due to the rain, and I was kind of struggling with the picking/new lyrics/melody. All these things made for a TON of "Mind Clutter" which, when left to pile up, can be more debilitating than a broken string during the Freebird guitar solo. (Ok maybe not THAT debilitating but pretty close)

"I should have prepped way more" - Is the statement that just kept running through my head.

But in hindsight I was learning the valuable lesson to practice what I preach - well sing, in this case. Don't look inward. Look up.

It wasn't until I started editing the video that I realized the shoot went better than I expected. The weather was rainy at the start but then the sun broke through which made for some great footage. It was crazy windy and cold (at least for us native Texans) but we toughed it out in order for the pics and video to get done. In full disclosure, Angela's hair is all over the place in the picture above. Photoshop FTW.

My friend Casey did well behind the scenes. Making sure everything was going as smoothly as he could. We are still working out the kinks with these live videos but it will only get easier from here (or thats what I keep telling myself!)

THE PERFORMANCE - The pedal steel was a new addition for me. I pretty much learned how to play on the fly - and with the help of Youtube of course - but I really liked how it turned out. The sound really adds a lot to the feel of the song and I fell in love with it. The opening/closing picking part was a source of some frustration at first but with a little practice I was able to play it and sing without any real hiccups. My mind was really working in order to remember all the lyrics I wrote in the week prior to the shoot (I'm pretty terrible with lyrics, especially my own) but in the end, it all worked out. Angela and Joe killed their parts, per usual, and I am grateful for that.

THE MEANING - The song is inspired by the classic scripture, Psalm 121. However, the first verse is much more out of the box. It describes a shame and desperation we have all felt at some point in our lives. The wilderness is a place we can easily wander into if we lose focus and keep our eyes on the ground for too long, figuratively speaking. When our focus is solely on the place or situation we are in, we will find ourselves lost and desperate. He calls us to look to Him no matter what. He is our source.

The second verse in much more based in the scripture.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The ending is really just a declaration of how no matter where I am or how I feel, I will KEEP my eyes on him. He is the strength of my heart.

LYRICS-
My head on my chest
Wondering, face down in this wilderness
My eyes on the ground
The burden is heavy with shame so profound now
Your hand on my cheek
Lifting my head and restoring my peace
You’re reminding me
You’re reminding me

Oh where does my help come from?
It’s You alone
You alone

My guardian, You never sleep
You are keeping my feet covered by your hand
I know you are here in the midst of my need

I will lift my eyes to the heavens
No matter what’s surrounding me

I will keep my eyes on the heavens
In darkness, my soul will sing

If you're still here, thanks for reading! I hope to do one of these with each video we put out. Hopefully you enjoyed the insight!

"REMIND ME" - VIDEO SHOOT

PSALM 121 (my first blog!)