Umphrey’s McGee Shares ‘Forks’ Official Video

Umphrey’s McGee issued their 11th studio album it’s not us earlier this year. The band celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2018 shared an official music video for the album track “Forks.”

One of the songs on the album to have been played live prior to the January release of it’s not us, “Forks” made its live debut at Summer Camp Music Festival in May 2011. Played several times that year and in 2012, it was offered just once in 2013. UM broke out “Forks” four times in 2016 but then shelved it once again until it returned after a 137 gap to open their recent February 17 show in Asheville, North Carolina.

Directed by UM lighting designer Jefferson Waful, here’s what he told PopMatters, who premiered “Forks,” about the video:

At first the goal for the video was just to use captivating visuals, but as it came together, I realized there needed to be more of a cohesive story. At the beginning of the project, I had no idea what the story would be. As I started going through concepts, I came across these amazing videos of the Northern Lights. The lyrics mention “search for a light” and I thought it might be a funny play on words to include some gorgeous footage of a glowing night sky. It’s a pretty coy and subtle joke, like “Looking for a light? How about the Aurora Borealis?”

The problem was there was no story, and I didn’t want to just crowbar in a random shot of the heavens. At some point, I had the idea of a blackout, which is an even more literal interpretation of the chorus: “Shit the power is out, anyone got a light?” I Googled “Aurora Borealis blackout,” and to my amazement, it’s actually a science-based phenomenon and is somewhat plausible. All of the online articles included in the video are real. Of course, the actual meaning of the lyrics is completely metaphoric. If you ask a light guy to make a video about searching for a light, I guess this is what you get.

Check out the video for “Forks” below: