My Storied Life

My Storied Life: New Podcast Address

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:25:39 -0600

© 2010 James Vest / Slow Train Productions
My Storied Life is a collection of words, sounds, videos, and stills by Chicago artist James Vest

White Trash Life

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:11:32 -0600

© 2007 James Vest

Shot quickly and edited even quicker, Bryan's obsession with black and white, dirty footage is finally satisfied. Again.

Murray's Law

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:18:29 -0600

Ragamuffin

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 10:31:39 -0600

© Jazzlike Films 2006

Director Bryan Heiden recruited Definitive Jux artist Murs to create this 25 minute short for the Slamdance Film Festival. Some of my best work.

Wedding Ceremony

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 18:25:39 -0600

© James Vest 2006

About a year ago, my good friend Joe asked me over a beer if I would be interested in getting ordained and marrying him to his fiancée, Alicia. I said yes and on April 8th I officiated their wedding and this is what I wrote.

Silentarmy: Scar On My Wrist

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 22:46:40 -0600

artist: Silentarmy

director: Bryan Heiden

editor: James Vest

Scar On My Wrist was shot in one day and edited a year later. It is essentially the way I first cut it, making it critically one of my best work. The only change was the last shot. The artist had seen it from the BK demo and insisted that we use it.

Kottonmouth Kings: King Klick

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 18:26:40 -0600

artist: Kottonmouth Kings

director: Bryan Heiden

editor: James Vest

King Klick started as three hours of raw footage and only two days to edit until I moved to Chicago. In the end, the speed of the edit was an ode to the late nights and long sessions to complete this marathon project.

OPM: Horny

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 13:16:40 -0600

artist: OPM

director: Bryan Heiden

editor: James Vest

Horny was my director's best work with constant vision throughout the creative process. This made the video one of BAREKNUCKLE's best and one of my most enjoyable and direct projects.

BAREKNUCKLE Films Demo

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Fri, 03 Dec 2004 18:28:40 -0600

Various Artists

director: Bryan Heiden

editor: James Vest

A collection of all of my early work with Bryan and BAREKNUCKLE. As a year in review, it reminds me of our amazingly busy year for music videos, considering we starting working together in 2003.

Big B: White Trash Renegade

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 18:28:40 -0600

artist: Big B

director: Bryan Heiden

editor: James Vest

Following Bryan's original idea of a sparse black and white video with splashes of red, I approached WTR as a nod to the gangsta rap videos from the mid to late 90's.

Pokafase: Me and the Mic

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Wed, 05 May 2004 13:53:40 -0600

artist: Pokafase

director: Bryan Heiden

editor: James Vest

A video I both shot and edited, Me and the Mic was a workout of multiple locations and a crucible for a still fresh partnership. What started here lead to all of our later successes.

Phunk Junkeez: Magnetic Mic Control

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Mon, 28 Jun 2004 22:49:40 -0600

artist: Phunk Junkeez

director: Bryan Heiden

editor: James Vest

Shot during the night with a crew of two, Bryan directed while I shot and rigged lights after we lost the rest of the crew after delays building the lab pushed the start time from noon to 9pm.

What Goes Around

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sun, 25 Mar 2001 14:35:40 -0600

© James Vest 2002

director: James Vest

editor: James Vest

My last 16mm film started as an ambitious one-shot with the camera circling a track while time and space transformed to tell the story. One shot revealed the dolly track, so it had to be edited and lost it's magic.

group RENAISSANCE Promo

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sat, 04 Oct 2003 17:18:40 -0600

© James Vest 2003

director: James Vest

editor: James Vest

My dad asked me to make his company a promo and we ended up rewritting the script the last day of shooting. The pressure of working with my dad really made me a better producer.

Sky Dive

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Fri, 16 Jul 2004 18:21:40 -0600

© Cheryl Roden 2003

shot by: Cheryl Roden

editor: James Vest

My friend Cheryl shot her mom's life long dream of sky diving and asked me to capture the orginal footage from High 8 and edit it for her. Once we found the right song, it was finished in about an hour.

Hallelujah

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 12:57:03 -0600

I Heart Her

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 12:17:07 -0600

© James Vest 2007

My third song while training on Logic Pro. It's everything I've ever wanted to say to a person I love.

The Adventures of Link

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 20:15:13 -0600

© James Vest 2007

My second song while training on Logic Pro. I told my firlfriend that both songs sounded like something from Legend of Zelda and she made me this picture.

The Legend of Zelda

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:21:41 -0600

© James Vest 2007

At work I started training on Logic Pro and this was my first song. It sounded like something from Legend of Zelda.

The Call

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 13:32:55 -0600

Come A Little Closer

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sat, 07 Dec 1996 21:07:40 -0600

© James Vest 1996

The first time I jammed on drums with a group was after meeting Jori's bassist friend, Chad. I had only been behind a set a handful of times, but we played 4 songs and I started to feel capable. The enegry was so high I could barely keep going, but I did and it was one of my brightest moments as a drum superstar.

Space World

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Tue, 14 Mar 2000 12:25:40 -0600

© James Vest 2000

This song was written and recorded within a 45 minute span as a group of songs recorded after moving to Phoenix in 2000. The words were improvised and at times unclear.

New Beat

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Thu, 02 May 2002 14:03:40 -0600

© James Vest 2000

Improvised search for raw acoustic energy, this tune harks of when I had an electric guitar. My roommates broke it while I was on vacation and I've been trying to make the same sounds acoustically ever since.

Experimental One

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Tue, 26 Mar 2002 16:56:40 -0600

© James Vest 2000

An experiment mixing my fasination with Folk Music and distortion. The noises are from the recording microphone being used as a slide.

Things Now

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Fri, 11 Feb 2000 11:12:40 -0600

© James Vest 2000

Written for my good friend Steve as a farewelll message from Phoenix, , This song was my first ever recording and remained mainly improvised. It was a celebration of our friendship as much as a goodbye to the party lifestyle we enjoyed.

Palms

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Wed, 10 May 2003 17:31:40 -0600

© James Vest 2004

This poem was a departure for me from anything I had done before. It's long, it's fiction, and was an adventure that all began as I imagined a child I didn't know taking my hand, during a time when children and family were filling my mind.

Broken

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Tue, 17 Jun 2003 22:14:40 -0600

© James Vest 2002

My writing teacher asked for us to explore something we didn't feel comfortable with and take chances. I wrote this poem, my darkest work from a dark memory from childhood.

Speedway Radar Pigs

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sun, 02 Feb 1997 14:56:40 -0600

© James Vest 1997

Apart of an oddessy that spanned over 60 stories in one semester, This story was written in study hall during senoir year of high school. Years later, I used it to win a writing contest, allowing me to make rent and stay in school.

Just For The Day

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Sat, 05 Dec 1998 15:46:40 -0600

© James Vest 1998

This short story was written during my first serious relationship to explain how I felt despite short visits and long distances. Inexperience fueled my wonderment, but also lead me to destroy everything it had created.

My Storied Life: Influences

james@mystoriedlife.com (www.mystoriedlife.com) — Wed, 04 Dec 1996 18:25:39 -0600

© 2006 James Vest / Slow Train Productions

My Storied Life is the collected works of Chicago artist James Vest. These are the influences that made all those things possible.