It’s clear that Carson Hoy wanted to make a splash with his latest music video, which debuted at Newton’s Hollywood 3 cinema during a free-admission event held a few nights before Halloween.
A Surrey-based artist, Hoy has reason to celebrate the arrival of “Night Drive,” a short film that features one of his catchy synth-pop songs.
This one is about a suburban dad named Roger, who dreamed of becoming a stunt man but has fallen into a midlife crisis. One night, he goes for a drive in a Dodge Challenger with magic powers.
Directed by Mark Gustov, the entertaining video mixes live-action scenes with animation. Hoy plays all instruments in a band, as the musician boyfriend of Roger’s daughter, with other characters played by Kevin Creery, Alexandra Wallis and April Hollihan.
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“The ideas I’m having are beyond the music and more about telling stories, visually,” reported the 25-year-old Hoy, who grew up in Cloverdale and now lives in South Surrey. “My music is more about online and videos, not performing live so much.”
At home, Hoy surrounds himself with vintage synths, guitars, drums and speakers he’s acquired by rummaging through flea markets and old barn-jam spaces. Framed vinyl albums on his walls “are evidence of the progression of his music production skills, doing work for artists like hip-hop legend Kool Keith and dancehall star Gyptian,” a bio notes.
Hoy’s musical journey started two decades ago, on drums in rock/metal bands with his two brothers, Cody and Connor. They entered talent shows and played Surrey-area festivals and events years before Hoy started DJing school dances and local bars, including Clayton Public House.
With the hip-hop duo UV Boys, his music attracted mostly teen listeners, and now the Tweedsmuir Secondary grad is focused on a solo career that will soon include a debut album, Enigmatic, as a pandemic-year project.
Hoy is helped with publicity by his mother, Ann Beaudet, who says “Carson has an intense drive to reach his authentic audience through any artistic means, connecting him to those who have similar experiences, but have not examined them to the extent he has.”
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The “Night Drive” launch in Newton also featured a mini festival of short films from director Gustov’s Creation Station Media.
“There were around 80 people there, including musicians and actors, film people,” Hoy recalled. “People were pretty hyped up, buying posters and shirts.”
It wasn’t the first time a local theatre was booked to showcase Hoy’s work.
“When I was 12 or 13, my family rented the Clova Cinema for an event, with a family band with my brothers, but this is the first time I’d ever shown a music video in a theatre like that,” he noted.
For the more recent event at Hollywood 3, Hoy also created a movie poster in tune with his vision for the “Night Drive” video and song.
If and when he gets around to doing live shows with his solo music, Hoy has plans for video projection, “to show these stories a bit more,” he said. “A multimedia show is what I’m designing, possibly when the album comes out.”
Right now, he’s also working on projects for film and TV.
“It’s a secret right now but it’s for a Netflix show, music for various shows,” he hinted.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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