Interview Spotlight on Alex Zarek:​ Producer to the Masses

By: Joe Brunker

I first met music video producer, Alex Zarek in a Chicago back alley behind Bottom Lounge. He was setting up for a music with Kevin Singleton and the boys in the former El Famous! Kevin, had put out a post, seeing if anyone wanted to be in their music video for the song, "The Life of Living With Regret." A song that resonates more with me as I've grown older. Our assignment, to go insane in the moshpit; that we did. 

  I thought Alex was a really chill guy, and was cool under pressure. I look up to people that can be that way, because having bipolar depression and adhd makes that a bit hard for me to achieve.  I continued to follow Alex as he continued to amaze people behind the lense. His music videos were so high quality and I knew, one day, I would try to have him film one of my band's videos. 

  Alex hadn't forgotten me in the mosh pit and he referred me to Stubhy Pandav of Lucky Boys Confusion when I had commented on one of his posts to act in his solo project, Mr. MS and the Infusions, "Mistakes of Our Fathers."

  Alex kept in touch for any future productions, and I was able to act in one more unreleased project before I was able to invite him for Primal Moon's "Take Off" music video. After filming our video, in the freezing cold; we stayed in touch. I had him on Bell and Company as a guest and I knew, if i ever had a chance to get his name out there; I would. Fast forward to now, and I needed to share his work with the readers of Sound Fury. If you are looking for a generational talent for your music video, I suggest you read this article and check out his creations! 

Joe:
So, what started you on your filmmaking journey? What drew you to music videos as your specific medium?
Alex:
When I was around 12-13 years old, I had started messing around with shooting videos with my mom’s classic Canon Powershot Digital cameras. I was very into skateboarding in those years, and skateboarding goes hand in hand with video for obvious reasons. I’d also started to capture and edit videos around RuneScape which my friends and I played a lot of in those days.

Fast forward a few years - I was interning for a record label in Chicago after my freshman year of college. I had recently changed my college major from psychology to arts technology (now known as creative technologies) at Illinois State University. As someone who had played in bands from an early age and was consumed by the love of music, working at a record label was, of course, a dream come true. But not necessarily in the ways I imagined. The label had an in-house creative team, including two video-centered guys that directed and shot a majority of the music videos for the ‘smaller’ artists on the label. A lot of these videos were shot in and around the office where they had a couple of rooms that were allocated to that type of thing. I was already interested in music videos, but had always imagined a full production crew being necessary to make them happen. But these guys (shoutout to Eric Richter, Dustin Smith, and Brian Raida) worked in small crews to create awesome work in a DIY fashion that was incredibly appealing to me. This is what sparked my initial serious interest in getting into music videos. I’d already been a musician for years, had a lot of preliminary video editing experience, and had just spent a summer witnessing industry professionals using their tools of the trade to create things that really resonated. In the fall of that year, I purchased my first DSLR camera and the rest is history. Over those initial years, I also started to hone skills in photography and design with ambitions to be a multidisciplinary artist within the music industry.

Music videos are an interesting type of filmmaking. One of my favorite things about it is that it’s relatively short-form compared to other types of work. A typical song is between 3 and 5 minutes long, so establishing tone and aesthetics quickly and deliberately is imperative. You can think of it in terms of a movie or TV show, where the colors and atmosphere play to the emotion and tension of a given scene and storyline. With music videos, it’s like that, except there’s usually no dialogue and you only have that 3-5 minute timeframe to get the message across. Sometimes there is a story being told, sometimes it’s just showcasing the artist as a performer. Oftentimes it’s a mixture of both. Once it’s done, it’s done and I can move on to another project that will likely have a much different vibe to it.  

I’ve done full-length documentary work, corporate world stuff, and just about everything else you can imagine but I’ve always preferred shorter-form projects over long-form. With music videos you’re able to establish these worlds more quickly and have more variety in smaller doses. It’s everything I like about creating videos all wrapped into one.

Joe:
You've been able to work with a lot of the top bands, in the scene, today. To what do you attribute that success? Also, who are some of those bands?
Alex:
In large part, I have the Greater Chicagoland Area to thank for the exposure and opportunities I’ve been fortunate enough to have. In the early-to-mid 2010s, pop-punk was blossoming here in a way that was electric and exciting. Bands like Real Friends, Knuckle Puck, Belmont (with whom I associate a lot of my early ’success’) were paving the way for the next wave of pop-punk bands in the area. While I’ve always floated between genres in my work and clients, pop-punk is definitely a scene in which people started to notice my work early on. Being in various bands myself throughout that time, I was right in the middle of what felt like an endless amount of opportunity. The cool thing about these music scenes is that they are usually pretty small in comparison to the mainstream music world and people know each other. They interact with each other, and by default they see what types of media that their contemporaries are putting out. Word of mouth is a powerful thing, and with social media becoming more and more prevalent, a lot of artists were exposed to my work through their friends in other bands.

My clientele started as mostly family and friends, but in a relatively quick manner started to expand into more than that. I was having a blast doing video, photo, and design work for whoever would give me a shot, whether or not they had money to offer.

Shoutout to Kevin Singleton and Stubhy Pandav for connecting me with a lot of key people early on.

Joe:
What have been some of your favorite shoots? What were some of your more taxing shoots? Why?
Alex:
This is one of the most difficult things to answer. At this point, my music video count is somewhere in the realm of 400 videos. Made up of projects in many different genres, this spans over 10 years across the United States with so many great people and memories. Sometimes it’s cool and fun, sometimes it’s heavy and emotional. But the common thread here is that I find myself reminiscing on the ones that felt meaningful. This doesn’t always equal a lot of views or hype, but that doesn’t really matter to me in the end. To be able to be a part of creating things that make people feel something is a blessing, even if it only reaches and affects a small number of people.

The more taxing ones often have to do with weather / temperature. Whether it’s 100+ degrees outside or ten below zero, the show must go on so that the vision can be achieved. Sometimes it’s long days into nights. Typically when you’re working in a DIY fashion, everyone is wearing multiple hats and going above and beyond to make the thing happen. You get stretched across a lot of responsibilities on set when working with a small team (or no team) and it’s a very satisfying (though tiring) feeling. The plane or car ride home after a long weekend of traveling, shooting, decision making, and execution usually feels like bliss and serves as a reminder that even though this is the most fun, fulfilling job I could ever ask for, it does take a lot out of me mentally and physically at times.

I’ll drop links to a shortlist of my favorites with a short description - this will end up being WAY too long if I don’t cut it off somehow (LOL).

Broadside - Bleu - https://youtu.be/bElaJmQ0y04?si=MzmFMIbDMD4CQkB3
- a ballad highlighting an emotional and personal story told by the vocalist
- shot partially in Nashville, TN / partially in Daytona Beach, FL

Overgrow - You’ve Got It All - https://youtu.be/-LczmcMbqlQ?si=1Zlzys3ensgYISJK
- This is probably one of the most ‘aesthetically sound’ projects Brian and I have ever done. This was our first experimentation with projection mapping

With The Punches - Mirage - https://youtu.be/o6A1KMNocq8?si=aioQgerQ6KorP9Bo
- A song that I fell in love with from the moment I first heard it. We crafted a cool narrative revolving around woodworking and personal closure.
- Shot in New Jersey

Nonpoint - Paper Tigers - https://youtu.be/sHUmz1uxM9A?si=ELdBiOlcWXbWvBhw
- Big lights, big energy, iconic band (shout to Brian Olivo for going big on the production)
- Shot in Chicago

Letdown. - Go To Hell - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA967Yr-lHQ
- Shot in Nashville, TN

I Ya Toyah - Caves - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h56QvK4H98E
- Shot completely on green screen and brought to life with Unreal Engine
- Shot in Carpentersville, IL

Many Eyes - Speechless - https://youtu.be/6NVwewAhAv4?si=kDOmirenczIpkRIk
- My team and I did some pretty interesting stuff with this one - shout out to Brian Olivo, TJ Belek, and Paul for helping this one come to life for Keith Buckley’s (formerly of Every Time I Die) new band
- Shot in Cleveland, OH

Belmont - SSX Trickmont - https://youtu.be/fpQz50jVxpA?si=aCIhyXpZT1AGPRn-
(honorable mentions to the classics Hollowed Out and Pushing Daisies)

Joe:
I've noticed that you've filmed a few "series" format music videos. Each video is connected to the theme. What has been your favorite series to film thus far?
Alex:
A good portion of my work ends up being with repeat clients, some of which I’ve done a lot of work with over the span of years. From late 2023 - early 2025, the artist I Ya Toyah and I made 10 music videos together - all of which were vastly different from each other. She was putting an album out in late 2024, and had the goal of creating a music video for all 10 songs. From renting out entire theaters to capturing footage of her dog Benek on green screen to be used in Unreal Engine, the journey we went on for these 10 videos was full of incredible experiences.

Another recent one would be the 4 videos (#4 is currently being wrapped) that we made for dying in designer’s latest record, LimeWire. We established the art direction and aesthetic of the whole cycle before we shot anything, and carrying that out across videos, short form content, photo shoots, designs, and more made for a very cohesive body of work.

As a more direct answer to your question, I have done several projects over the years that were more episodic in nature where a narrative storyline carried over between several music videos. Most of these are from years ago, but it definitely makes you think in different ways in terms of storytelling. Usually we’re trying to cram everything into one 3-5 minute long thing, but when you have more time to work with, it opens up more options for how that story can be told.

Joe:
Any new music videos to keep our eyes peeled for?
Alex:
They’ll be out by the time this interview goes out! :P

Joe:
Do you have any advice for future generations of filmmakers to follow as they get started in their journeys / careers?
Alex:
This answer is more geared toward people looking to make a living out of this type of work.

Do as much work as you can to figure out what you do and don’t like. Try things that you’re unsure about. Worry less about money and more about being a part of impactful, meaningful projects. Don’t let becoming ‘full-time’ or ‘making a living’ off of your work be your only measure of success - it’s 100% doable to make this work alongside another primary job or career especially at the beginning.

Go the extra mile, be kind, and handle each project with care. Remember, when people hire you, they are entrusting you to help bring their vision to life. Musicians are generally very passionate about what they do, and will have that same drive when bringing someone in to work on the visual aspects for them. As a filmmaker, cinematographer, editor, etc., this is a very special role to be in, because you are helping craft the visual identity of something that someone else poured their heart and soul into.

Be versatile! This is one of the most important aspects of this. You don’t necessarily have to be proficient across a bunch of different mediums, but in the video/photo world, being able to bounce between the two has proven to be one of the most valuable things in my experience. A lot of cameras have the ability to capture high quality imagery through both video and photo, and being able to provide services in both separates you from some of the people who focus on just one area of work. The more value you bring to the table, the more likely someone will be to bring you in to do different types of projects. It can definitely be easier for an artist to work with one person on multiple things rather than having to hire out a handful of different people to each contribute their pieces to the puzzle.

Don’t forget to have fun.