RW24 and the Making of the Yeah Bikes! Music video
To continue gearing up for this week’s RW24, I will continue posting clips from my music video and live recording of Yeah Bikes! from the February 22 show. Additionally, I will share outtakes from last year‘s adventure of inviting strangers to participate in my music video at the RW24 last year. This was the first time I was taking a leap of faith that Yeah Bikes! is a catchy song and could bring people together.
One of the biggest challenges musicians face is risking failure and rejection to put their music out there. There is so much advice on reels (#millenial), self-help books, paid mentoring, or paid subscriptions. Like me, you can spend years in indecision, trying to figure out the best way to “become a musician.” Self-efficacy begins to disintegrate and you doom scroll on social media looking at all the musicians being successful while you’re in your bed at night chiding yourself for your laziness.
Therefore, last year just about a month before the 2025 RW24, I decided enough is enough! I’m going to make this music video, and I know that the Riverwest 24 must be a part of it. That decision alone catapulted an entire music video production, single release, and a live show with a band playing my original music for the first time. Sometimes you need to throw away the advice other people give and just do the thing. Make mistakes. Learn your lessons. Be lighthearted and have fun. I guess this is the only advice you should follow.
Here are some anecdotes of the lessons I learned through my mistakes, not other people’s advice.
Leading up to the RW24, I messaged people to recruit a video production team and promote the idea of my music video. To my surprise, nobody was jumping at the chance to participate in my project. It did not occur to me that if people do not know you and you do not have a following, they probably will not be interested in helping. It has nothing to do with the fact that your project is dumb, they just don’t know you. Also, you’re looking to collaborate a week before the RW24…It took me a minute to realize it was too late to get a big initiative going.
However, no regrets, because it made me follow through. Not following through on this project was the last thing I wanted on my neurotic conscience. In a flash, I figured out a story map and leaned on a couple of friends to go over the shots that I would need. Then I looked for more friends to participate in the choreography of my song and recruit people to take specific shots.
Then that gave me the idea of posting on social media to encourage people to send me shots that I could put in my music video. Again, at that time, I really didn’t have a following (my current is in its infancy), so, yet again, nobody sent me videos, except a friend from high school.
Me trying to recruit strangers to DM me footage but there’s many rules
Regardless, I knew I was going to bike around the event and ask strangers to shout Yeah Bikes! with me. Although I am more outgoing than the average person and feel most at home on stage with a mic in my hand, I was very scared to do this.
I remember feeling my stomach drop at the thought of going around the event asking strangers to shout Yeah Bikes! with me. I felt like I was asking people to believe in a project that I’m very proud of. I love the song that I wrote, the story of how it came about, and the joy it brings people. If people do not wanna shout Yeah Bikes! with me, then my art is meaningless. I’m a sucker for that black-and-white thinking.
I responded to that train of thought by asking close friends to be with me every step of the way. If everyone is gonna laugh at me when I ask them to participate in my music video, at least I’ll have people who support me by my side.
It turned out to be so fun to get random strangers to shout Yeah Bikes! because RW24 participants aren’t strangers. They’re…friends! Sure, my invitation on social media was a bust, but I did get a huge crowd to shout Yeah Bikes! outside Club Meinecke (a great place to dance during the RW24 FYI). That shot came from a miscommunication. I was going to film a crowd at Club Meinecke shouting Yeah Bikes! Unfortunately they didn’t follow through on their word. Keep in mind, I asked someone I didn’t know day of the RW24 if his friend would let me stage a scene in the middle of clubbing. Imagine - a random stranger comes to you and says, “Hey, can I film people shouting Yeah Bikes! for my music video?…It’s really good!” Let’s just say, I don’t blame guy. I was honored he considered.
Instead of sulking away like George Michael from Arrested Development, I asked a crowd in the street to participate in the scene.
Everyone was on board and super excited. See the clip below.
Fortunately, my friends, Grace, and Chris took the liberty to take a lot of the shots I had on the project sheet. While they did that, I went around again during the day asking random people to shout Yeah Bikes! by myself. This was a lot more intimidating because I didn’t have a close friend by my side, encouraging me to be bold.
I’ll never forget when I was walking on Humboldt by the baseball field where people were camped out. I went up to a great RW24 team and asked if they would sing a whole chorus to my song. I explained I was going to release a music video. Not only were they on board for participating, but they also loved the song.
It was a shame I didn’t have all the time in the world to visit everybody and invite them to participate in the footage. Feel free to make your own reels this Riverwest 24 and send them my way. I could make a Yeah Bikes! music video part two.
After the RW24, I worked with Ian who has led the open mic at Uptowner on Center Street. We coordinated a filming of me singing the song live at an open mic. Then the next step was to record me singing Yeah Bikes! and have Grace guest star in it. Chris Ouchie was also there every step of the way camera in hand, and edited the final product. On one hand it came together so quickly, and, on the other, it took forever. I wrote this song in the summer of 2022, and I’m grateful it’s finally released. The journey of Yeah Bikes! continues because I will be singing at the Bublr fundraiser in early September. Did I mentioned they will use Yeah Bikes! as the theme song?!
Yeah Bikes!
Below are other lessons I learned by risking failure and rejection:
iMovie is a terrible software for editing.
Canva is equally a terrible.
Adobe Express is way better - no cap.
If you ask people to do something confidently, they probably will say yes.
People love to unite over simple, joyful things like biking and singing.
Announce a deadline on social media and commit to it.
I love being on stage and camera.
It’s best to work with what you got rather than what you wish you had.
Pay attention to who says yes to you rather than the ones who say no. If it’s meant to be, somebody will say yes.
When your original plan doesn’t work out, it wasn’t meant to be. What you pivot to is.
When filming at night, lights are a good idea to have on hand → See below
The Riverwest 24 is one of the best holidays on this God-given earth and the best space to go rogue with creativity.