REINDEER TRIBE 2023

I had a perfect holiday experience this year witnessing and capturing the 13th annual Reindeer Tribe. This group of musicians and friends came together over two days to record a brand-new Christmas album. They wrote original songs and spent 2-3 hours working on each song before moving on to the next. This year, they recorded 10 songs! As someone without musical talent, this was like witnessing magic.

The musicians chose an 80's synthesizer piano and drum loop theme for their album. To get into the right mindset, they listened to a lot of Wham, Culture Club, and The Cure. They set up a microphone in the middle of the room and recorded all the music live, capturing the raw performance of people playing in a room. They used drum machines, keyboards, and various types of synthesizers to create an authentic 80's sound.

From a visual perspective, it was a challenge to capture different angles of the songs when they only recorded the final performance in two takes. I had to film the practice sessions leading up to the final performance and sync everything together afterwards. Luckily, the vocals were recorded separately, so I could focus on capturing them in a more controlled scenario. The recordings took place in a beautiful home with windows all around, and the filming of these two videos took place on Friday and Saturday between 3pm and 6pm, when the lighting changed the most. It was a great challenge, but I'm happy with how everything turned out. My goal was to capture and edit the creative friendship that these wonderful people share.

-Ric

Reindeer Tribe 2023: Evan Cunningham, Alex Strahle, Bernard Chadwick, Rachel Chadwick, Bethany McKinnley, Paul Bessenbacher, John Steinmeir, Adrian Ariosa, Dave Sager, Brad Coleman, James Petralli, Doki Ariosa