Steve Marino (FKA Moor Hound), “You and Rea,” // GemsOnVHS

The first edition of GemsOnVHS, revisited August 10th, 2021 as part of the “VHS Vault” series.

What better place to start our journey through the VHS Vault than at the beginning? This is our channel’s oldest surviving field recording. To set the scene, Anthony was a couple years out of high school, trying to make ends meet and figure out a future for himself in the face of six years probation for victimless crimes, bouncing from punk house to party house to a trailer he would later sell to Benjamin Tod. These were the real Wild West days for GemsOnVHS. Brain-bursting Japanese noise punks Melt-Banana and smooth, classy hip-hop duo Team Highgrade had been featured on the channel, but Lost Dog Street Band and The Hill Country Devil were still a year away from making their Gems debut, to give you an idea of where things stood.

In spite of it all, Steve Marino (FKA Moor Hound) and his first Gems submission “You and Rea” set the tone in more ways than we could have realized at the time… a stripped-down, intimate field recording of an honest, vulnerable songwriter. Anthony called Steve up so they could shoot a video together. They met up late that night and drove around aimlessly trying to figure out the best place to shoot it. Finally, after driving around for an hour or so, they decided it made the most sense to just shoot it in the car — it was the most honest thing they could do, after all. It was the first time Anthony had ever really used his camera, so it was completely raw.

He tells me as I write this, “I’ve done way worse videos since then.” The video plays out like an old memory coming to you in a dream, but sometimes life feels like that. We would later film everything as crisp and clean as possible. We figure if one of our videos makes a lasting impact on you, its memory will come back to you much like this video looks 10 years down the line on its own anyway.

Steve’s still making great music. Please take some time to check him out ( https://stevemarino.bandcamp.com/album/fluff )! And while you’re here, let us know — what was YOUR first GemsOnVHS video? Sorry to make you date yourself if it’s an old one!

“Be Kind & Rewind”, y’all!
-LoganOnVHS

Our undying love and gratitude go to our executive producers for making this project possible: Amy Ennis, Andi Nye, Brady Jones, Christopher Watley, David Jameson, Eric Valente, Irvin Maddox, Johnny Callahan, Josh Collins, Julio Guerra, Keith McQuillan, Kenny Schmidt, Lisa Galvan, Richard Harmon, VJ Arizpe, and The-One-Who-Cannot-Be-Named.

Consider becoming a Patreon contributor to help sustain this project. For the price of a cup of coffee every month, you let us continue finding and filming amazing artists.
https://www.patreon.com/gemsonvhs

GemsOnVHS is a long running series of intimate, off-stage performances by songwriters we love.
We’re on instagram (@gemsonvhs or @anthonysimpkins)
Like us on FB too! (http://www.facebook.com/gemsonvhs)
www.gemsonvhs.com

Original Video Description:

Our buddy Moor Hound from Orlando, Florida stops in Nashville on his tour, and we get him to play a few songs after his show.

Check out his page, see if he’s stopping in your town soon.
http://www.facebook.com/moorhound?sk=app_178091127385

Filmed by Anthony Simpkins.
Car driven by Thomas Nystrom.
Music played by Steve Marino.