Spencer Hoffman – Photo Credit: Jesika Gatdula
Practitioners of yoga or meditation who are fortunate enough to reach a level of spiritual tranquility, and become accustomed to spending time in that space, typically don’t burst into uncontrollable laughter or recklessly unleash their glee when they get there. Rather, disciplined practitioners become at one with stillness, soften their eyes, smile ever-so-slightly and mindfully relish the transformative state — even if it only lasts for a moment.
Young singer/songwriter Spencer Hoffman seems to have already discovered a similar state of zen on his self-recorded solo EP, A Flower From Behind (Park the Van). Beautiful but not too precious, relaxed but not ambivalent, passionate but not gratingly so, the Los Angeles-based musician delivers authentically inspiring, balanced music at a time when it is needed most.
We’ve had three weeks to bask in the bliss produced by the Honyock co-frontman on his first solo release. Today, we get to revel in Hoffman’s visual serenity courtesy of the colorful and calming video for his new single “Lie.” The light, psychedelia-adjacent clip will be released for public consumption shortly, but the Big Takeover has first dibs.
Watch the video here:
The video, directed by Alexandra Steele and Geoffrey C. Knecht, shows Hoffman performing on a miniature set built entirely from recycled materials. “I built the set using recycled material from my day job as a prop assistant,” Hoffman explained. “We built it and shot it over two days in my friend’s garage.”
Hoffman recently said “Lie” is the first song he wrote that embraces his country roots. Trying his hand at a solo endeavor, A Flower From Behind draws inspiration from the American folk tradition, country songwriters such as Roger Miller and Guy Clark, and 19th century romantic poetry.
“It brings me back to the trailer park and motel where I spent a lot of time growing up,” Hoffman said. “My grandpa would drive me around in his red Toyota pickup on his way to repair something at the pool hall or the country store, and sing Roger Miller and Willie Nelson tunes while drumming his fingers on his leather steering wheel cover. It’s the first song I wrote that embraced my country roots like that, and came out of a set of circumstances that were making me weary of certain people I had left behind in my hometown.”
A Flower From Behind is a collection of deeply personal songs Hoffman conceived while moving up and down the Pacific Coast before settling in Los Angeles.
Hoffman has gigged for a decade, since he, his brother and their high school friends formed Honyock when he was only 16 years old. They’ve already opened for such acts as La Luz, the Dodos, Anna Burch and Surfer Blood. To boot, Honyock have collaborated with members of Father John Misty and producer Riley Geare (Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Caroline Rose).
For more on Hoffman and his debut EP, go here:
—Additional reporting by Kurt Orzeck.
