Tobin J Stewart’s musical project, Carpet of Horses, released on his self-made Montsou Records label is the definition of indie music distilled to its most proper form. Everything is meticulously written, recorded, and produced in top handcrafted form, including every last one of the LPs up for sale on the Montsou website. Each physical album features beautiful silk-screened artwork developed by his wife, acting as a further exemplification of their grassroots campaign for the full Carpet of Horses record, while digital downloads cost 5 euros a pop.
The music video for his latest single, ‘Ghosts’, is a (suitably!) haunting montage of gorgeous landscape shots (shot by Joseph Netherly) befitting of the ominous music on display. The full-bodied folk-rock featured here is a bespoke reminder of the lengths at which Stewart has gone to produce an able and sleek work of art on an independent basis.
Of the single, Stewart says:
‘Ghosts’ was filmed by American photographer Joseph Netherly. I reached out to Joseph some time after discovering his work online, and being immediately and wholly enamoured by it. To me, his photographs evoke so many of the same nameless things I’m attempting to articulate musically, and ‘Ghosts’ in particular seemed like it could exist happily alongside his work. He graciously agreed to collaborate, the result of which is this beautiful clip. The imagery was all captured in rural areas of Ohio throughout the winter and spring of 2017.
Words by: Jonathan Frahm