Phish & RNC Dance Party Mashup So Good Some Thought It Was Real

Yesterday morning a video mashing up Phish‘s performance of “Sing Monica” from the previous evening with a dance party that broke out at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland was posted to Facebook and YouTube by videographer MKDevo. Twenty-four hours later the hilarious clip has racked up hundreds of thousands of views and was so good some even thought it was real.

https://twitter.com/rodrigjc/status/756159962171060224

We spoke to Dave Peck, aka MKDevo, about the mashup:

JamBase: How did the idea for the mash-up come together?

MKDevo: I woke up yesterday morning and one of the very first things I saw on twitter was an @andreanusinov tweet of the original video (with “My Sharona”) with a suggestion that someone should put a Phish song over it. I agreed, and went to work.

JamBase: Do you have strong feelings either way towards one of the candidates?

MKDevo: I do. And I had originally typed out a fairly long answer to this question. But then I thought about how many people have gotten a laugh out of the video, while talking politics is a much more serious, and even dark territory. So I’m going to pass and just let people keep enjoying my funny video, rather than crucifying me for my political beliefs.

JamBase: Were you surprised at the reaction it garnered?

MKDevo: Very! I figured it’d make the rounds and people would get a kick out of it, but not like this. Watching that view count (and number of shares) skyrocket throughout the day yesterday was pretty surreal. I guess it’s about as “viral” as something can be in our little scene here. It’s been a pretty rough month for me, and knowing that so many people were having a laugh at something that I did really made me feel good.

JamBase: How long did it take you to put the video together?

MKDevo: Not long at all. I downloaded the original at 8:33am and my version hit facebook at 8:48am.

JamBase: Why “Sing Monica”? Were you aware the irony (Lewinsky)?

MKDevo: Of course! Despite seeing some complaints that I didn’t pick a heady “Weekapaug” jam or something, that wasn’t what I was going for. I’d been setlist-watching the night before (BGCA3), and remembered seeing “Sing Monica” on there. I wanted something upbeat that was close to the tempo of “My Sharona” to match the video, and what better than a “Dad Rock” Phish song for a bunch of old white Republicans to dance badly to?! As soon as I lined up the first hand clap with [drummer Jon Fishman’s] first snare hit, I knew it was the right choice. I didn’t touch the video at all after that – just looped it over and over. It’s pretty great how often the video syncs up with the audio too, including bad clapping on 1 & 3.

JamBase: Have you heard from any of the “stars?”

MKDevo: I haven’t, but someone posted a comment on it last night in which they tagged their friend and said, “idk if you saw this but your mom is in this a lot lol”. A couple clicks later, and sure enough, said mom is the blonde in the striped shirt and white jeans. Pretty funny.

JamBase: Do you still tape/shoot Phish shows?

MKDevo: I do, though I only saw a show and a half this summer under some pretty weird/bad circumstances. Hoping for a Fall tour, as I love me some indoor Phish.

JamBase: We know you shoot and tape lots of up-and-coming jam acts, tell us one people need to have on their radar.

MKDevo: This may seem obvious from me at this point, as it’s been my answer for a while, but I’ll continue to say Dopapod. They are an amazing band that tours pretty much constantly, and they just keep getting better and better. I can’t get enough of them.

Be sure to follow NotMKDevo and MKDevo on YouTube and like his Facebook page.