Jessica 6 and Midnight Magic @ Exilo Studio

This past winter EXILO STUDIO welcomed members of Brooklyn-based bands Jessica 6 and Midnight Magic on their L.A. tour.

With caipirinhas in hand, a nice mix of friends/fans watched the premiere of Jessica 6ʼs ʻWhite Horseʼ music video, directed by Marco Ovando and styled by Ava Sanjurjo. The video is nominated for an award, and the band is also performing, at the Mad Video Awards in Athens, Greece, on 06/14/2011.

In the video the boys of Jessica 6 – Morgan Wiley and Andrew Raposo – are clad in vintage biker stylings as the ever-effervescent front woman Nomi Ruiz seduces the audience with her tantalizing showgirl/bombshell/femme fatale image.

The video professes a kind of nostalgia for a New York of the past, where seediness reveals a romantic take on the possibilities of an underground lifestyle.   The feeling of longing for an urban freedom and exhilaration is also evoked by the easy beats of a perfectly crafted dance-pop tune…with a dark side.

In grainy high-contrast black and white shots of marquees at night, iconic triple X’s blink and glow, as Nomi promises we can get back to that place on the dance floor.

The endless bank of references to New York nightlife, and its figures, fittingly characterizes a nostalgic take on nostalgia itself.  As Nomi confesses on the chorus: “…I know Iʼve lost my memory.  Although Iʼve lost my memory…”

The night-to-day cycle of the video is a nice touch.  On the last scene we see Nomi in morning light in a lively walk-of-shame.  The day-after becomes a tender moment amidst the usual hardness of the leather and chain nightlife.

pics from the evening:

A Midnight Magic moment: shake your titties!