How do you gather over 40 random people to appear in your music video? If you are local band such as Clever Measures, you simply return to NC State to get some volunteers from the student body.
Clever Measures is a rock group based in Raleigh and made up of several alumni from NC State. Justin McEntyre and Zach Karges, both 2014 graduates, and lead singer Scott Floyd, who graduated with a degree in science education in 2010, came together to form a band last September. They have since been joined by Ryan Burns on bass.
The band had wanted to film a video for their song, “Here’s to you,” featuring people holding signs with lyrics. To get so many to appear in the video, they would need a large population of friendly people. NC State quickly came to mind for the band members to recruit eager participants.
“For most of us in the band, NC State is our home,” Floyd said.
The video also featured signs held by students containing someone they appreciate to tie in the meaning of the song.
“The song is a thank you to all the people that have lent a hand in our lives,” Floyd said.
Kevin Quick, a senior in psychology and sociology, appeared in the music video and enjoyed the bands spontaneity and the experience of participating in the film.
“They were around campus and were just asking people if they wanted to be in a music video,” Quick said.
Clever Measures started out playing open mic nights and performing cover songs for house parties in Raleigh. The band soon realized it was very difficult to land a gig with no recorded material or original songs.
“We started writing last November and were playing our songs live by winter. We were mostly recording all summer,” Floyd said.
Since recording, the band has released an EP, Allow me to Introduce…, which features
Here’s to you along with three other original songs. The EP can be heard, along with the music video, on its official website CleverMeasures.com.
Since writing its own material Clever Measures has played many local venues such as Ruckus, Brickhouse, and Deep South. Floyd says his favorite show was NC State’s engineering Welcome Back Bash. The band performed on the Oval at Centennial Campus to welcome students at beginning of the past semester. According to Floyd, they were the first band to play live music at the Oval.
“It felt like a homecoming to return. Plus the sound equipment was great,” Floyd said.
While at NC State, Floyd meet many other musicians that influenced him and helped him to learn more about guitar and music in general.
“There was always someone around playing guitar. You could always get a tip from another musician, no matter how small,” Floyd said.
Having performed several gigs around Raleigh, Clever Measures seeks to expand its audience to other parts of North Carolina and possibly across the country. Their next show is at The Cave in Chapel Hill on Nov. 22.
