In an age of elaborate green screen superimposition and weighty music video subplots, sometimes it’s refreshing to see a band take a less common route when expressing a song in a visual format. Fittingly, Sugar Stems sought to employ a forest full of paper nocturnal critters in its stop-animated music video for “We Only Come Out At Night,” the standout single off Only Come Out At Night.
To accomplish the feat of showing animals gathering in the woods for a late night concert, Sugar Stems called upon Micronic World Studios owner/operator Mark Peterson (who also does videography work for “Rock and Roller Remote Controller”). From April 1 through August 1, Peterson—with the help of Steve Deau, some RRRC cohorts, and Sugar Stems drummer Jon Heibler—hand cut construction paper scans of animals, trees, beers, and everything else before animating and editing it.
Beyond paying a unique, well-crafted, and fun visual homage to the most catchy song off one of the best front-to-back Milwaukee releases of the year so far (which is out now on Dirtnap Records, and in Milwaukee next Friday), it makes one really get a hankering to watch some early episodes of South Park. The video for “We Only Come Out At Night” will also be featured on an upcoming episode of “Rock and Roller Remote Controller.”