Father John Misty - I'm Writing a Novel

What this video is

Released September 2013 as a single from Fear Fun (Sub Pop, 2012), the video arrives at a pivotal moment in the consolidation of the 'literary indie' persona — artists whose public image is as carefully constructed as their music. Father John Misty (Josh Tillman, ex-Fleet Foxes) used the Fear Fun era to recast himself as a sardonic, psych-folk antihero steeped in West Coast mythology, ayahuasca, and self-aware…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of the early 2010s indie folk / Laurel Canyon revival, the video exemplifies the documentary-collage aesthetic that Sub Pop-adjacent artists used to build parasocial intimacy. Its rapid-cut verité style and ironic self-presentation prefigure a broader shift toward 'anti-video'…

The director

Noel Paul is a filmmaker based between NYC and London who began directing music videos alongside Stefan Moore under the moniker 'That Go' while both were in art school in Seattle. His extensive discography spans Sub Pop, Warp, Dead Oceans, Domino, and Rough…