1st Base Runner takes a trip without leaving his chair in his psychedelic new video for the single Near Me — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The new single comes from the Austin singer-songwriter and producer’s sophomore EP Ellis, which is out now on all platforms. Directed by Ellis Bahl and Johnny Chew, the Near Me video captures 1st Base Runner’s inner world at its most surreal, psychedelic, dream-like and dangerous. Rich with hallucinatory symbolism and harrowing archetypes, this visionary music video successfully merges the worlds of Bates Motel and Alice in Wonderland.
1st Base Runner is the immersive new project from Tim Husmann, a visionary who artist draws on shoegaze, alternative, and dream pop to create powerful songs that carry the weight of raw emotion and hard-won wisdom. In another life, Husmann performed with international acts at storied venues all across North America, from the Troubadour and Fillmore to Montreal’s St. James United Church, playing drums, synths, and arranging electronic live setups.
For the 1st Base Runner mastermind, a hiatus of seven years was necessary to clear out the creative coffers of past projects in order to forge ahead with a fresh new sound. Striking out on his own he sought to coalesce his inspirations into an endeavour that tied together his love of vintage synthesizers, atmospheric musical acts, and surrealist cinema. With all this musical flotsam and jetsam floating around in his head, he was compelled to make his long-awaited return to the scene.
Born in Amarillo and residing for most of his adult life in Austin, Husmann now lives in the hills outside of the hip capital. He crafts his concertos conveying the ironies of the human condition from the privacy of his personal studio on the acreage. A highway burn removed from the neon distraction of Sixth Street and the live music crucible of the Red River District, Husmann can channel the wind whistling through the thicket on those vast Texas plains to inspire the airy waves of cascading sonics that proliferate his pieces.
His 2021 return, the aptly named Seven Years of Silence, was a testament to patience and precise planning. Husmann works with the meticulousness of a Reznor or slow play masters Godspeed You! Black Emperor, wrapping each of his astral post-punk pieces in airy layers of cosmic synthesis. His gravelly whisper and ruminating croon offer words of guidance over danceable dreamworld gothic pop. The record maintains its grainy glow from start to finish enveloping the listener in rich analog goodness.
In December, on the heels of Seven Years of Silence, 1st Base Runner released the Ellis EP, a collaboration with longtime friend Bryan Ellis. This potent new collection finds 1st Base Runner further expanding his atmospheric and intensely personal sound, incorporating indie rock, shoegaze, post-punk, pop, ambient and electronic music influences to form a cohesive signature. Brighter chords and percussion moved to the fore while keeping the same hazy glow that gave Seven Years its ineffable vibe. Effervescing synths bubble over a beat both warm and fuzzy and effortlessly cool. Husmann and Ellis craft a score for young love stumbling through the long summer evenings.
Not to be stopped during this prolific boon, 1st Base Runner has another full-length on the docket to be mixed in August. This third release expands upon the sound of Seven Years and Ellis while adding a good dose of post-punk edge with the introduction of live drums to the fold. Fans of artists as varied as My Bloody Valentine, Radiohead, Joy Division, Nine Inch Nails, Aphex Twin and Godspeed! You Black Emperor should find common threads in 1st Base Runner’s music
Watch Near Me above, listen to Ellis below, and find 1st Base Runner at his website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
