The ski season at Searchmont may have ended, but the new music video for Jonesy Land’s Moral Blackout features skiers and snowboarders shredding at the popular ski hill.
“Snowboarding, skiing, and rock ‘n’ roll…what’s not to love?” wrote Dustin Jones on his Facebook page.
The avid snowboarder and musician/producer is probably as well known on the slopes as he is on stage.
Jones has been a season pass holder at Searchmont for years and he thought it might be exciting to showcase some local shredders and skiers in the new video he put together himself.
The video juxtaposes clips of Jones poolside and Jones and his friends on the slopes at Searchmont.
“With today’s technology and the quality of today's cameras you can make a lot of cool music and shoot some epic video up here in the North. The video was so fun to make,” he says.
“I have always been obsessed with snowboarding, surfing, skateboarding. I truly believe they are beautiful art forms. Extreme sports people and musicians are an incredibly similar kind of people.”
The video features locals Aiden Lang, Evan Bodnar, Blake Antonello, Matt Hull, Brad Flint, Wiatt Betty, Ryan Zago, Nathan Manary and others ripping up the slopes.
“Big shout out as well to all the shredders for their contribution and to Mike Lesnick and Tyson Mount who also make a brief appearance smiling for the camera.”
Jones used the pandemic to write the song
“When the pandemic hit we had just released the Conspirators record and everything just halted to a stop,” says Jones.
“With not being able to travel or see anyone and everyone going remote, I just kept writing. I released a single under the name Jonesy Land called Sunshine Parades last spring. The pandemic really brought me back to the start of my career. Doing everything on my own.”
Despite the writing and producing the song himself, he had numerous friend play on the recordings
“As things have started to open up and also people becoming so capable of recording and sending files from anywhere, Jonesy Land kind of became a real project,” he says, noting he performed under that moniker last summer with the lineup rounded out by Frank Deresti, Liam Seymour and Chris “Taco” Johns.
“After that, I just started tracking songs with Jonesy Land in mind. It is a solo project in the fact as I write the songs, record them, and produce and direct the videos but the songs wouldn’t be what they are without the players I have on them.”
Moral Blackout also features a couple of Jones’ long-time bandmates from the Inner City Surfers, Brad Example and Mikey Hawdon.
“They added their musical magic to the track,” he says.
“Jonesy Land can have anyone in it and can be genre-less. It’s all the artists and friends I have made along the way contributing to songs. The videos are filled with things I really enjoy in life outside of music.”
Although Moral Blackout is a standalone single, Jones says to expect more to come.
“The pandemic really brought me back to the DIY attitude more than ever. So the plan is to release an album's worth of singles, and because of the death of CDs, I’ll then press some on vinyl.”
Moral Blackout is now available on Spotify, Apple Music and all the other usual streaming platforms.
“I hope everyone digs it.”
Find out more about Dustin Jones/Jonesy Land and Tidal Records here.