A singer-songwriter based in Victoria B.C. had an idea that would provide a creative outlet for his audience during this period of global lockdown.
Matt Stern decided to create a whole new music video for his song, Take It or Leave It, after a friend sent him a 10 second clip of her dancing to it in her living room.
“I always like having dance in my videos, and I love professional dancers but I also love people dancing naturally,” said Stern in a phone interview with Victoria Buzz.
“Doing creative projects like this at home give people a sense of purpose, and my friend suggested opening this up to other people.”
So Stern got about a dozen friends, family, fans, and acquaintances to submit clips of themselves dancing to his uplifting title track from his latest album, ‘Take It Or Leave It’.
“I feel like that’s one of the most catchy songs, and I guess I’m thinking a lot about how people need to be uplifted as much as possible,” said Stern.
Stern moved to Victoria from Montreal about three years ago and notes that B.C.’s capital city has far less diversity than what he’s used to and getting to know the culture here has been a process.
But what he loves about Victoria is the feeling of community and the ability to interact with people while performing at places like Centennial Square.
“The nature aspect has affected my music too, and lends itself to being contemplative and let ideas germinate which I like,” says Stern, adding that his writing retreats to the Gulf Islands have aided his process and given him time to work on creative projects slowly in a beautiful atmosphere.
His compilation video features ordinary people from Victoria and across Canada dancing their hearts out, which Stern says conveys the message of his song perfectly.
“I think the message when it comes down to it is everyone being their full selves — in this case, accepting the invitation to do a home dance and share it with the world even if you’re shy about it,” he adds.
“The way people are doing it is so unique to them. There’s alway some degree of self consciousness but they seem pretty comfortable.”
Those who dig his music can catch Matt Stern’s next live online performance that will be streamed at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28th on the Facebook group entitled ‘Get Down With the Lockdown‘.
