Greg Clifford’s latest offering is a hard-hitting post-punk number entitled ‘Shoot The Messenger’. The track, which was written during the Coronavirus Pandemic, considers the divisive and hostile nature of the world.
According to Clifford ‘during the pandemic there was a brief moment where positive change and true empathy for others and the world seemed obtainable. However, this pipe dream quickly dissipated and right and left wing politics and ideologies became more extreme and polarised. We live in the age of self-righteous self-appointed experts, which can propagate wild and threatening conspiracy theories. […] The barrage of moral panics, cynicism and short shelf-life imagery during this period nauseated me. Musing over this subject matter and writing the song offered me some semblance of solace and serenity during an extremely uncertain time”.
The music video, which alludes to self-imposed imprisonment and blind ignorance, was filmed in Berlin by Stephen Golden and directed and edited by Clifford.
‘Berlin is synonymous with thought-provoking imagery and provocative graffiti so I felt an obligation and compulsion to include various street art and statements that piqued my interest around the city given the nature and subject matter of the song. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept and nuances of what constitutes good or evil and the vast spectrum and ambiguity that exists within it. It’s intriguing to witness those with entirely opposite opinions vehemently refute each other with great conviction and certainty. Ones way is truly a way among many’.
‘Shoot The Messenger’ was recorded by Lucrezia Gnagni in Sun Studios (Temple Bar, Dublin) and mixed and mastered by Ian ‘Werkhouse’ Flynn. Jay Bagnall, who drums with Paranoid Visions and Steve Ignorant, appears on the single.
Greg Clifford is a Berlin based independent musician and interdisciplinary artist from Ireland. Clifford’s style is an authentic amalgamation of alternative rock, modern pop, folk and classical guitar fingerpicking, as well as weaving subtle electronic elements into his body of work. His compositions exude honesty and purity in which he explores thought-provoking subject matters and astute musical textures.
The prolific songster, who holds a Masters in contemporary composition, has a number of releases under his belt including Why Can’t You See EP (2015), Quodlibet LP (2017), 20/20 Vision LP (2020) and Lines of Desire LP (2022).
Watch the video for ‘Shoot The Messenger’ below:
