Here you will find live videos, music videos (to use the term very loosely), and short films/video projects in which members of Isthmus and the Lisps have served in various capacities.
Videos are posted in (approximate) chronological order.
They have all been posted by isthmusandthelisps at youtube.com, but we link to the video's original post/author so they receive the credit they deserve.
This post is pretty much a duplication of the last “Live at The Elevens” post, but the video quality is like 10 times better and the audio is probably closer to 50 times better. These were taken by Bernie during the sets.
KEVIN LARY (Kevin Lary – featuring Ross Fielding, Juliana Forsberg-Lary, Victoria Forsberg-Lary, and Zach Forsberg-Lary)
MYSTERY BAND (Rafay Rashid, Bryan Fielding, and Ross Fielding)
ISTHMUS AND THE LISPS (Zach Forsberg-Lary, Erika Young, Ross Fielding, and Victoria Forsberg-Lary)
So this is the missing video from the Elevens show. The reason it wasn’t posted with the others is that I was too busy preparing to play to take out my camera and hand it to someone. Luckily Bernie was there, Zi8 and Squid-mic in hand. My editing software wasn’t working, so there’s a bunch of set-up/sound-check at the beginning. I can assure you it’s well worth skipping ahead to about 1:30 (or waiting it out if you’re into that sort of thing).
I will eventually post all of the videos Bernie was generous enough to record, and burn to a DVD for me. The quality of his recordings far surpasses any of the other cameras in the club that night. If you’re just itching for the rest, clamor.
I wish someone would pay my dad and I to do music like this on a regular basis. This kind of song and this kind of performance is what I wish I could make a living doing… On a sentimental note, I think playing this song with my dad that night might be one of my favorite father-son experiences ever. Even if every other video from that night was destroyed in a giga-fire, I’d be happy as long as this one survived. Add it to the family scrapbooks…
So Yesterday was our third anniversary. Did we go on an expensive date? Did we buy each other lavishly expensive gifts? Did we cook a nice dinner at home and sprinkle rose petals all over the apartment? The answer to all of these questions is (of course) “no”. Erika went to the optometrist to get her eyes checked (correlation to dating me? I hope not) and I went to work. We spent the evening sitting around a messy apartment watching the premier of Jersey Shore 2, and watching videos of people doing cover songs on youtube. Three common threads presented themselves:
1. Do not judge a book by its cover: Sometimes the lamest-looking people sound the best (and vise versa).
2. Cute girls cover anything and everything and have millions of views (often regardless of talent), while any/all guys (despite expending immeasurable effort commenting/linking/posting their trendy faces all over the internet and the pages of the relatively more successful/popular videos by decent-looking girls) almost always suck and are ALWAYS less viewed.
3. There are way way WAY too many Justin Bieber fans and far too many unjustified Biebster cover songs.
We decided it was time for us to take action:
I wanted to model our cover after these talented girls’, but we couldn’t master their beautiful harmonies (or match their cued winks/smiles/lip-puckers), so we decided to look more like all the other covers on the internet: pretty girl (great voice) guy trying his damn hardest to look trendy and attractive. Anyway, you can watch the girls who overshadow us here:
The title pretty much says it all. Bernie took some awesome high def footage of your favorite band called Isthmus. Y’all should petition him to get the rest up ASAP (or send me a DVD so I can get it up)! I’m kidding of course (please don’t bother Bernie [all two or three of you]), Bernie’s a great guy who we’ve known for several years from our days back in Boston. One of his many projects is taking awesomely high-quality video/audio of a ton of local (and not so local) acts. If we were one of those bands that promotes themselves with a little energy, this video would surely make the cut for our reel. Anyway, without anymore stanky-leg:
Take special note of how perfectly Ross feels out the song (he hasn’t heard or played with us since March) as he goes along. That son-of-a-gun is one hell of a percussionist (and not a half-bad fellow). I think this song was (in my opinion) the best of our set.
Here are video’s (at least one batch) from the show at The Elevens. They are (sort of) in chronological order (sorry Mystery Band, IatL, and Andy T: I got a little fuzzy with the setlists and song-titles). Without further ado…
KEVIN LARY
So you’d never know it, but this was Kevin Lary’s first live show (at least in many many moons). He’s obviously my father (so I might be biased), but he’s also a pretty cool guy. I’m bummed that I missed the first song (since I was accompanying him) because it’s probably my favorite original composition I’ve ever heard (definitely by him, maybe by anyone).
Anyway, this first track is a cover of Neutral Milk Hotel’s song “Two Headed Boy”.
“Tonight You Belong to Me” – A cover of a song from the 1920’s (?), Kevin is accompanied by Juliana Forsberg-Lary (daughter/sister/friend to many of the other performers that night).
“I’ve Just Seen a Face” – The family that sings together… stomps all over each other’s harmonies. Fortunately, it all panned out alright. There’s something to be said about heredity, voice timbre, tonal compatibility, and affinity for certain harmonies. I smell an in-depth medical study.
MYSTERY BAND – Rafay Rashid, Bryan Fielding, and Ross Fielding
This “band” is a band kind of like IatL is a band, but it doesn’t show. There were some technical difficulties in terms of guitars and mic-ing a pile of percussion-trash, but these fellows put on a really solid set that I (for one) enjoyed immensely. I apologize for the botched song order and erroneous titles (and for missing the first few ditties [and for never being able to fit more than two of you in frame at a given time]), but I have a funny feeling I’ll be forgiven.
ISTHMUS AND THE LISPS – Zach Forsberg-Lary, Erika Young, Ross Fielding, and Victoria Forsberg-Lary
You probably know us (or know of us) or you wouldn’t be here on the interweb reading this post and watching these videos, but if you don’t let me explain: We’re a bunch of quasi-musical friends who occasionally come together to play some songs that are sort of familiar to some of us. So here they come:
ANDY T – Andy T and Victoria Forsberg-Lary
Andy used to be the lead guitarist in the Providence-based band Deer Tick. If you’re into that sort of thing, you can look them up or ask some indie-kid about them. You can hear some of his guitar work on their last two albums and an EP that features one of his very own compositions. Moral of the story: that band decided to go in one direction and Andy T decided to make better use of his many talents and go straight to the mother-fucking top of the charts in all of our hearts with this wicked-dope, inspired-troubadour, story-teller, melt anyone with a soul’s love-muscles, pop-americana-one-man-band rock that oozes authenticity, heart, and soul. Often accompanied by my lovely sister Victoria “The Harmony Machine” Forsberg-Lary, Andy T puts on a show rich with chemistry, passion, and some mean guitar riffs. You can quote me on any of that; in or out of context (though I’m not sure why anyone would want to do either). Here are the videos:
It was a fun night with good music and better people. Thanks to everybody in the bands, and everyone at The Elevens who helped make it possible. It was an evening I will remember fondly for the foreseeable future.
We decided during Jim’s extended visit to Delaware, we should film and record some sort of “live show”. We settled for the three of us (Jim, Erika, and Zach) in a culvert at dusk. It would have been a soothing set to see/hear if you wanted to fall asleep in a hammock or a really soft bed.
Before we really get into this: skip it. Unless you want to see me looking like a hobo and rambling like a drunk, avoid all of these videos. They were filmed in 2010 here in Delaware while Erika was out of town. I was bored.
Dr. Freph Mulligan, head of Theoretical Research and Development at Atomic Perspectives Pharmaceuticals, gives a digital journey through the latest addition to your stock portfolio: APP.
Film created by Chris Barone, Alex Butzbach, Devin Connors, Matt Croasdale, and Ross Fielding (of IatL).
Cast and crew includes: Ross Fielding (of Isthmus and the Lisps), Alex Butzbach, Matt Croasdale, Devin Connors, and Chris Barone.
The soundtrack features original scores by Zach Forsberg-Lary (of Isthmus and the Lisps).
A stranger comes over for coffee. A highly symbolic film about the human psyche and the role of organized religion and “fellowship” in the formation of an individual (interpretations of this film are highly subjective and certainly up for discussion/debate).
Film was written/edited blind by M. Lee.
Raw footage filmed by Dave Cote, Alex Butzbach, Ross Fielding (of IatL), James Y. Giguere (of IatL), and Zach Forsberg-Lary (of IatL).
The soundtrack is unfortunately an original score by Isthmus and the Lisps (James Y. Giguere and Zach Forsberg-Lary).
Original post author wishes to remain private (for good reason).
Fun fact: the “coffee” was actually a mixture of whiskey and soy sauce.
Fun fact: Dave’s lines are comprised of real excerpts from the Book of Mormon.
Fun fact: Jim’s face (and Zach’s hair) was greased with Vaseline.
Ray Miller is proud of the College Poker Club that was co-founded by his older brother. But when Dave Burnigan–also the younger brother of one of the co-founders–decides to leave the club, Ray goes to great lengths to express his disapproval. In his anger, will he undermine the lofty ideals that he claims the Poker Club was founded on?
Written and Directed by James Y. Giguere (of IatL).
Cast and crew includes: Matt Croasdale, Alex Butzbach, Christopher Barone, Kevin Lary, James Y. Giguere (of IatL), Ross Fielding (of IatL), and Zach Forsberg-Lary (of IatL).
The soundtrack features original scores by Isthmus and the Lisps (James Y. Giguere and Zach Forsberg-Lary).
Fun Fact: The nudity (we feared might disqualify the film from screening and/or the competition) was not an issue due to the context of the scene.
Fun Fact: The torture scenes were filmed in the abandoned basement of Alex, Ross, Jim, and Zach’s apartment.
Fun Fact: Chris Barone actually forced himself to vomit (multiple times) during the torture scene, causing other members of the cast and crew to grow sick from the smell.
This film depicts the satirical and highly symbolic loss of self/identity in an increasingly self-obsessed and introspective world (in my humble opinion).
This film was created by Alex Butzbach and stars Ross Fielding (of IatL).
The soundtrack is an original score by Isthmus and the Lisps (James Y. Giguere and Zach Forsberg-Lary).
This song was obviously written by George Harrison, but was performed by Isthmus and the Lisps (Christopher Huang, Erika Young, James Y. Giguere, and Zach Forsberg-Lary).
The video was taken by Luciana Torres, Maria Lee, or Alex Butzbach and was originally posted here by rehpot33.
Fun fact: it took Jim and I a long time to work up the balls to play this song live. Neither of us wanted to fall embarrassingly short attempting such an ambitious cover. It also took quite a bit of re-working to make it our own.
The song was written by James Y. Giguere (of IatL), and performed by Isthmus and the Lisps (Christopher Huang, Erika Young, James Y. Giguere, Jess Kelly, Ross Fielding, Vitoria Forsberg-Lary, and Zach Forsberg-Lary).
The video was taken by Luciana Torres or Maria Lee and was originally posted here by rehpot33.
William Howard Taft: President, Supreme Court Chief Justice, Father, Husband, Friend. Little did anyone know that there was more behind this man than appearances would have you believe. Viewer warning: suggestive themes and depictions of presidential sexuality.
We created this film and its soundtrack in 2007 on sort of a whim. Perhaps (in retrospect) it was an attempt to test the waters of what we could get away with in a national film competition representing a private Catholic university. Perhaps it was just an excuse to have a bit of random fun. We had doubts that it would ever be shown to anyone, but to our amazement it received the “Best Picture” award from Boston College and was later shown at the city-wide Boston CampusMovieFest finale on a massive screen in front of hundreds of people. I’m not sure if this speaks to our ability or to other teams’ lack thereof that year.
The film was created by Alex Butzbach, James Y. Giguere (of IatL), Ross Fielding (of IatL), and Zach Forsberg-Lary (of IatL).
Cast and crew includes: Matt Croasdale, Sean “Balls” Hickey, Carol Marrolowski, Kevin Lary, Taylor Butzbach, Alex Butzbach, Liz Duffy, James Y. Giguere (of IatL), Ross Fielding (of IatL), and Zach Forsberg-Lary (of IatL).
The soundtrack is an obviously original score by Isthmus and the Lisps (James Y. Giguere and Zach Forsberg-Lary).
The film was originally posted here by campusmoviefest.
This is “a social commentary piece about girls who party too hard”.
It was created by Matt Croasdale (and team Doodz) of Emerson College. The soundtrack was written and recorded by Isthmus and the Lisps (James Y. Giguere and Zach Forsberg-Lary).
This was an original film created for CampusMovieFest 2007 and was originally posted here by campusmoviefest.
This video and the next were from the same show. Roggies was a sort of weird bar/restaurant. The upstairs was like any other BC-student-crammed sports bar. But the small rarely-used basement held a really fun Open Mic Night every Tuesday, hosted by Christie Leigh. The musicians were usually interesting, the music was usually good, and we had usually finished a few too many beers before playing.
This song was written by Zach Forsberg-Lary (of IatL), and performed by Isthmus and the Lisps (Christopher Huang, Lee Meryash, James Y. Giguere, Ross Fielding, Victoria Forsberg-Lary, and Zach Forsberg-Lary).
The original video was filmed by one of Chris’s friends and originally posted here by rehpot33.
“Don’t Leave Me”
This was at a little basement bar we used to frequent in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. This was a small show (about 25-35 people) we had planned with the band Jo Henley (who we also opened for that evening).
The song was written by Zach Forsberg-Lary and performed by Isthmus and the Lisps (Christopher Huang, Lee Meryash, James Y. Giguere, Ross Fielding, Victoria Forsberg-Lary, and Zach Forsberg-Lary).
The video was taken by one of Chris’s friends and was originally posted here by rehpot33.
Two young men discuss the nature of love and things often mistaken for it.
Created by Zach Forsberg-Lary (of IatL).
Soundtrack by James Y. Giguere (of IatL).
Cast and crew include: Alex Butzbach, Greg O’Kane, Jenn Unter (formerly of IatL), Colleen Malachowski, Anna Walsh, Ted Splaine, Sydonia Lary, James Y. Giguere (of IatL), and Zach Forsberg-Lary (of IatL).
This film was created for CampusMovieFest 2005, and was originally posted here by campusmoviefest.
If you have interest in using any of our works for any reason, or you would like to commission a song/audio recording for a multimedia project of any sort, please contact us at isthmusandthelisps@gmail.com We're generally pretty cool about that sort of thing. Powered by WordPress & the Atahualpa Theme by BytesForAll. Discuss on our WP Forum
