Common Prayer, 'Of Saints' -- Video Premiere

Posted on Nov 17th 2010 11:45AM by Cristin Maher
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Big Potato Records

Jason Sebastian Russo has never been timid about experimenting with different forms of music. After all, he started out as the founding member of indie band Hopewell, whose sound found the perfect medium between space rock and psychedelic pop.

Now, Russo has moved on to front Common Prayer. Although the name and sound have changed, Russo's ubiquitous bizarreness and love for unconventional compositions are still quite present, fusing pop with their ambient and emotionally charged rock. Common Prayer recorded their first studio album, 'There Is a Mountain,' in a cow barn, using what Russo calls "several half-tuned guitars, myriad scraps of rusty metal and a piano with a knee-high flood watermark."

In the band's video for 'Of Saints,' which was directed by Adam Hall of Foglight Films, viewers are transported into Russo's hometown of Hopewell Junction, N.Y. to get a glimpse at the heart of his beautiful eccentricity. The clip is centered around Jason's brother Jon, who has spent his life as a carpenter, survivalist and outsider.

"The 'Of Saints' video is a hyper-speed tour through the niche [Jon has] carved for himself in the strange suburban Americana of upstate New York," bandmate Alex Marvar tells Spinner. "Homemade taxidermy, religious paraphernalia, weaponry, his tree house, all around the garage-turned-house where, in Russo family history, Jason lived before he left Hopewell for the land of bands."

Common Prayer, which also includes live collaborators John Anderson and Karen Codd, are currently working on their sophomore album, which will be released before SXSW 2011. Check out the 'Of Saints' video below.

Download Free Common Prayer 'Us vs. Them' MP3