LYNN — Justin Clancy has something to say, but this time, he’s using a different medium.
The Peabody native and beloved North Shore musician, who found his voice when he got sober at 19, is preparing for a premiere this week. It’s not his next hit album (yet). The 30-year-old, a local headliner at last year’s Boston Calling music festival, is debuting his first ever short film, No Blondes in Heaven.
“It starts at the end of a tragic journey and it represents the circle that continues,” he said. “It’s a poignant, thought-provoking art piece that is up for interpretation. Different people will have different feelings about it.”
Half of the short film is a visual piece narrated with spoken word poetry, while the other half is a music video for his next single, “Holy.” It kicks off the rollout for his second album, which Clancy says will be released later this year, bearing the same name of the short film.
“The short film itself is a literal approach to the phrase, but really it just came to me I guess during the process of making this album,” Clancy said. “I kind of was reflecting on growing up. I was a towhead. I was a natural born blonde and so was my mom. Through all our trials and tribulations, I often wondered ‘What’s the heaven for us?’ Are me and her not allowed in this heaven, so to speak?”
“It entails a lot of the internal and external struggle we dealt with together while I was growing up,” he added.
Clancy, who has hundreds of thousands of music video views and tens of thousands of monthly music listeners, partnered with the Lynn Music Foundation to bring this premiere to life. He originally toured the Exchange Street property for the short film but decided worked better as a location for the premiere.
This short film is a reaction to the instant gratification crave in the age of quick clips and viral moments. Clancy believes long-form art is dwindling and should be celebrated more.
“I have always wanted to do more spoken word poetry, stuff that’s less literal and more artistic,” he said. “Going into this new age of cinema and art, everything is not so thought-provoking anymore. It doesn’t make you think. Everything is just direct.”
Clancy began the project last July and finished it by December with help from Sun & Moon Studios, Eric Doody, Alexandra Kibilko, Nic Violets, Nox Beatz, and Leo Son. He saild he was heavily influenced by the final scene in Jim Carrey’s movie The Truman Show.
“This is just something I wanted to put out for me and it’s more of a passion project than anything,” he said. “You get so caught up in the subjectives of ‘what is success?’. At the end of the day, nobody really knows, so why not put something out into the world that you enjoy. And if other people enjoy it, that’s bonus points.”
The seven-minute short-film will premiere Sunday, Feb. 23, at The Vault in Lynn. It will begin around 7 p.m. and will be free to the public, as long as you RSVP to [email protected] beforehand.
“There’s an incredible art scene arriving locally, in and around the North Shore,” he said. “It is something that should be paid attention to. There is so much talent all around us. We need art. People need art to survive. The only thing that has ever stood the test of time other than currency and exchange is art and entertainment. Everybody always needs a little bit of an escape and I think we need that now more than ever.”
