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If you know anything about George Alley, you know that he’s relentless in pursuing his passions. Nothing is halfhearted. It’s all real, well-conceived, and representative of a larger vision. We’ve featured Alley several times now, most recently with the premiere of his “King In Townmusic video. That was the first single from his self-titled debut album, which was released last September.

Which brings us to now. Here we are with the premiere of the music video for “Blue Valentine,” the latest single from that debut record. It is being released, obviously, to coincide with Valentine’s Day coming up in a couple of weeks. When it came time to brainstorm for a visual accompaniment to the song, Alley wanted something that would be representative of the theme of the song. Like with everything he does, he was closely involved in all aspects of the conception of the video and its production process. He worked with a strong team that helped his vision come to life.

To tell us more about the video itself, Alley comments:

“For the music video, directed by Aly Spengler and produced by Philip Moore, it’s the second video I’ve done inspired by Andy Warhol (‘XRAY’ being the first.) This time I was inspired by his screen tests so I asked some artist friends to come around and we ended up setting off the fire alarms in my building. There’s something haunting about people auditioning for their 15 minutes of fame—the vulnerability and fleeting nature of it. That tied perfectly into the themes of the song: how love and relationships can feel like an audition, where people are trying to perform or prove something, but it’s ultimately transient and ephemeral.”

Explaining how the song came to be and its connection with Valentine’s Day, Alley tells us:

“‘Blue Valentine’ began with a bass riff I wrote and then I began humming a nonsense vocal melody on top of it. I approached the nonsense language like an anthropologist, trying to decode the hidden meaning, and it suddenly hit me—it was about the idea of being in love with love more than being in love with an actual person. That realization made me think of Valentine’s Day and the pressure we often put on ourselves and others to either be in a relationship or to make one work, even when it’s clear that the connection isn’t there. I thought about those times I’ve dated someone for a few months, knowing after the first or second date that it wasn’t going to work, but still trying to fake it.

“Valentine’s Day is always during the most miserable time of year when nature feels dead and there’s nothing happening—it’s cold and bleak. That’s where the metaphor of a fox in the snow being trapped by a hunter came to me. The fox represents someone vulnerable, needing to be loved, maybe by a specific person, or by the pressures of society to conform to the idea of love and relationships.”

If you know anything about Alley or have read our previous pieces on him, you’d know that he is an artist in every sense of the word. Based in Philadelphia, he more fits the mould of being referred to as a multimedia artist rather than just a musical artist. He is a composer, performer, professor, journalist, podcaster, choreographer, and curator. Much of the center of his work is encompassed within his company, Alley Ink. He has collaborated on music videos multiple times with Adam Peditto. He has also acted as a curator for five years at Collage, a Philadelphia multimedia arts festival.

Other current artistic pursuits for Alley include being the Features Editor for Loverboy Magazine. The publication is one of the leading LGBT pop culture publications in the UK. He has his own podcast called ‘I’m Going to Kill You!.’ Alley has also taught classes as a professor on punk and creativity.

For George Alley, it’s an overwhelming resume of activities, occupations, and talents. But he wouldn’t want it any other way. He does what he loves and loves what he does, and it’s obvious across the spectrum of his many activities and engagements.

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