Evidence of a Struggle - Give Us A Kiss
Known for creating lush, cinematic, beautiful and sometimes chaotic compositions, Evidence of a Struggle spent most of 2024 weaving a dense tapestry of sonic, musical, lyrical and "visual observations” of what’s happening in our world now, in the past and what may happen in the future. Rooted within the chaos of our world, it is a loud and thoughtful sonic exploration of our unique ability as a species to harm, destroy, thoughtlessly marginalize, and discard with reckless disregard for anyone or anything outside of our immediate orbit.
"The video was created by Rev. Billy using a combination of analog and text-to-video AI generations. Over 100 generative video assets were edited using Final Cut Pro to make the final product. Each AI video I generated took 1 to 5 minutes, depending on bandwidth at The Glue factory. Not every text prompt resulted in a “good” video. For every single “good” 10-40 second generated video there were probably 3 To 5 that weren’t “good”. That’s a lot of time," says Rev. Billy Simmons.
"It’s not the most efficient way to create a video, but I’m really happy about the uncanny valley it allows me to explore. Each attempt to describe the angles, lighting, motion, and nuances that I want to AI encourages me to critique how I approach lyrics for new songs and how I can be more succinct and descriptive as a songwriter and storyteller. This video contains many hidden and easy-to-miss surprises. Happy hunting."
Transforming into a musical chameleon at night, Rev. Billy's day to day entails running Rev. Billy's Chop Shop, a salon with a creative space that regularly showcases artists' work (declared by Chicago Reader as the city's best gallery). The forthcoming 'Eddy Derecho' album is a lyrical departure from Evidence of a Struggle's debut instrumental album.
Rev. Billy previously collaborated with notable artists, such as RCA artist Ké, Urge Overkill, Touch and Go, and major labels like BMG and Universal. In 2020, he returned to music in the midst of lockdown boredom, allowing him a continued creative outlet. Playing every instrument and recording his debut album at The Glue Factory studio, he then joined forces with Sanford Parker.
As of March 5, 'Give Us A Kiss' is available from fine digital platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The full album will be released on vinyl, CD and digitally on May 9.
