Songwriter, leatherworker, seasonal Park Service employee, and graduate student Izaak Opatz has a thing for words. More specifically, fitting them together in couplets and verses of wry humor, thoughtful simile, and close observation—a therapeutic process of narrativizing his own life that, almost as a byproduct, turns out savory nuggets of literate, confessional pop, processing life’s tough stuff into downright enjoyable musical moments. Extra Medium, Opatz’s upcoming release—out April 29 via Mama Bird Recording Co.—splits time between romantic Hindenburgs across his native Montana, up the East Coast, and in faraway Los Angeles.
Montana and LA become the main characters of more than a few tunes on Extra Medium, including the freshly debuted “Wild-Eyed George Bailey Heebie Jeebies,” which was written after Opatz was suddenly dumped in Montana by a ladyfriend who, a couple months later in LA, refused to acknowledge their previous relationship. “She’d visited me in LA when we were dating, and the contrast in feeling between the two visits almost gave me the sense that I had gone crazy, and maybe our relationship never existed, similar to George Bailey’s experience of having never been born in It’s a Wonderful Life,” remembers Opatz. “We went for a walk in Glendale’s Forest Lawn cemetery, where a number of celebrities are buried, and only after finishing the song did I find out that James Stewart, who played George Bailey, was actually buried there!” Today, Opatz released the tremendous, perfectly-disjointed music video for “Wild-Eyed George Bailey Heebie Jeebies,” directed by Aaron Curry.
Check out “Wild-Eyed George Bailey Heebie Jeebies” now below..
