To support me directly, join my Patreon: www.patreon.com/kaistraw
Also, subscribe! - bit.ly/kaistrawYTsub
Chokin' is available on all streaming platforms:
kaistraw.fanlink.tv/chokin-mv
This song is from my album 'To Dream Beneath The Scorpion': fanlink.tv/todreambeneaththescorpion
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Text me to stay updated: (707) 289-3895. The first two sign-up replies are auto, then it's really me, and I reply to everyone (can take me some time, though, so keep that in mind).
For my blog, lyrics and merch: www.kaistraw.com/
Video Credits:
Luke Cho - Assistant Director ( the.aesthetic.collective)
Nina Zepeda - Makeup & Costume Design ( nightcreep.fx)
Zachary Sweet - Makeup ( zacharysweets)
Kai Straw - Writer, Director, Editor, Cinematographer & Costume Design
Starring:
Serra Naiman - Annie Ward ( serra.naiman)
Kyle McCarthy - Aiden Ward ( shamaswholesome)
Spencer Schultz - The Collector ( battle_buddies_pod)
Mary Kuznetsova - The Seer ( maryk.ontrary)
DJ The Bonebreaker - The Dancer ( bonebreakingdj_)
Song Credits:
Written, Produced & Performed by Kai Straw
Mixed & Mastered by Fred Miller ( fred_miller_mastering)
A little bit about me:
I lost my job to the pandemic and ever since then I’ve been making music full time. I was a nightclub manager getting ready for the events that weekend when I got the call telling me my salary had been cut and the nightclub would be closed due to a state of emergency in California, and due to a city ordinance in San Francisco. I’d held that job for eight years. I invested my life into it. It seemed to me like I’d get married, have kids, and feed a family with it. And then in one week, on one day, it was gone.
Moments like that can wreck you. And if you only take one thing from following me on my journey, it’s this. In your lowest moments, when you feel lost, when it seems like everything around you has crumbled, there are seeds in that rubble - seeds that otherwise would not have been set free had your world not fallen apart. With those seeds you can grow a different life for yourself; one that’s greater and more fulfilling than the one before. In brokenness, there is opportunity. When your life falls apart, build a better one. My making this music is an expression of my own resilience. It’s me rejecting whatever darkness has tried to reach for me after I lost the life I’d built.
Alright, second part. I’ve been sober for over ten years, and if you're curious as to why I use skulls in some of my artwork, my merch and so on, here’s why. The last bottle gifted to me before I went sober was a bottle shaped like a skull. I still have it, unopened in my living room. When I see that bottle, and I see it every day, I don’t see a crutch or a temptation, I see the strength of my own will. I believe reinterpreting the darkest points in your life as sources of strength and personal growth is key to blooming as a human being. The way I’ve flipped that skull to mean something positive in my world reflects that way of thinking. When you see the skulls I put out there, I want you to see that - and in the same way, when your life gives you challenges, I hope you see the light that wreaths them.