Video Premiere: Forrest Day, “Sleepwalk”

Forrest Day is a Bay Area songwriter, sax player, and producer, whose genre-bending, self-titled debut album from his band of the same name drops next Tuesday.

We asked Day about the real-life inspired lead single, “Sleepwalk,” and the making of the madcap video, which we’re proud to bring you before anyone else. Have a nice day.

What was the inspiration for “Sleepwalk?”

It’s about my night terrors. I’m one of those adults that still sleepwalks. I wake up strange places, sometimes in pain from some kind of minor injury. Hopefully the injuries stay minor! The experience is very disorienting and confusing. Waking up in the middle of doing something is pretty much as trippy as it gets.

What do you remember about writing it?

I wrote it in my old room on my keyboard. I programmed the drums and started playing those creepy string parts over it. I knew pretty quick what it was the song was about, and started singing about my experiences over it. In the beginning stages of playing it with the band I would make up a different verse every show and tell about a new night terror. I finally locked some lyrics in for the recording though.

What’s going on in the video?

In the video I’m running around getting chased in different dream sequences and keep waking up in new ones. I can’t get out. The scenes of the video are not true to any of my nightmares. The video is more about capturing the confusion and intensity of my experiences, not actually literally depicting them. The truth is, I don’t really remember my dreams. I know there is a car accident, and that I am incapable of saving myself.

How was the shoot?

The shoot was really cool. It was a new experience for me…..acting. I hated it at first, but then got really into it. It was fun. It challenged me for sure. Jamie DeWolf was the perfect director to work with. He’s got a lot of balls, and we really made and incredibly ambitious video, with no real time to prepare. Even if you hate the video, you’ll at least have to laugh at how hard we tried! Haha! I’m actually pretty proud of it though. Check it out.