Introducing Myriad’s Window Music

A new video series offers a behind-the-scenes audience with local and touring musicians
by Ayn-Monique Klahre

Photo by Chris Young

September is here! And with it kicks off peak music season in Raleigh — from big festivals like Hopscotch and Bluegrass, to the start of the season for the Symphony, to renewed energy for smaller-scale shows at venues like Pour House, the Ritz and Lincoln. 

A local organization is looking to build on that energy with an online video series that enlists local artists as well as touring musicians to create digital performances. Myriad, a video agency in downtown Raleigh, started its “Window Music” series back in 2019, just before the pandemic. “It started because we have these big glass windows looking onto Salisbury Street, we wanted to host performances there and have a group of people watching the show both in the office and outside, TRL-style,” says Jedidiah Gant, brand director at Myriad. They’d just recorded sessions with BJ Barham of American Aquarium and Buenos Aires-based Che Apalache when the office shut down.

The year-long lull in performances gave Gant and his team time to think about how they might want to shift the idea. “We have this opportunity to make this more of a window into the artists — to not just record songs, but also interview them,” says Gant. “We want to see the musicians as humans, not just entertainers. What happens when they’re not perfect?”

Some of their early post-pandemic versions of Window Music have been recorded at The Pour House, with artists including hip hop artist Pat Junior, singer-songwriter Skylar Gudasz, and Bangzz, a “garage punk project” from singer Erika Kobayashi Libero and drummer Jess Caesar. Each playlist from an artist includes a mix of songs and interviews available through their website, windowmusic.net. “The goal is to offer musicians a chance to do something a little different,” says Gant, who says they plan to do a balance of both local musicians and touring ones. 

Moving forward, they hope to capitalize on big music weekends, like the upcoming Hopscotch and Band Together’s Comeback Fest in October, to meet up with musicians wherever they are — maybe it’s in the green room, maybe a parking deck — to create some quick, good footage that they’re happy to share, and fans are excited to consume. “The thought is, hey, you’re in town, do you have a few hours?” says Gant. “We want to make it easy for them.”

The overall goal, says Gant, is to both support the artists and to showcase Raleigh as a friendly destination for live music. “This is a place where you can get to know an artist,” says Gant. “When you understand where they’re coming from, or what the lyrics really mean, you get a deeper respect for their music.”

Visit windowmusic.net to listen to the performances.