Jake Hays’ new video begins with a WARNING: This film contains flashing lights that may cause discomfort. VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED.
After that, it’s all downhill…in the best possible way.
The video for Hays’ new single, “Overcomplicated” is something of an ode to the artist’s love of all things creepy and spooky. In the video, Hays wakes up in a basement, chained to the floor, and has to endure bizarre psychological games at the hands of a devilish mascot and a vengeful ex-date.
Directed by Hays and Olivia DeLaurentis (Prank Encounters, Apocalypse Goals, Stir Crazy), the conceptual vision of the video took the song’s meaning on a wild journey. The song itself is about the aftermath of a bad first date, with one person trying to put up clear boundaries and the other person refusing to take the hint. For the video, they took the idea of revenge and retribution to an all out extreme.
“I’m a massive fan of the horror genre, and my go-to book of choice as a kid was always Goosebumps,” shares Hays.
“I have so many vivid memories involving that series that I really wanted to pay homage to the overall genre of humorous (borderline non-threatening) horror. We thought of one of the most famous horror series of all time – SAW – and thought that a play on that with a life-size Devilboy character as the instigator would be a ton of fun. Instead of actually getting tortured (which would be no fun to watch), we wanted it to be a series of playful but insane head-scratching events. It’s the worst possible fallout of a bad date, getting trapped and tortured.”
Born and raised in southern California, Hays is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor, VFX artist, producer, and editor. He discovered his love for music at age 13 when he started playing the drums. He then moved on to guitar and keyboards as well as singing and producing.
Hays has written songs with Matt Sorum (Guns N Roses, Velvet Revolver), Grammy winner Holly Knight (Aerosmith, Pat Benatar) and Cherie Currie (The Runaways) to name just a few. In 2015, Hays signed with BMG/Vagrant with his project Maudlin Strangers and toured the US and Canada opening for acts like Bad Suns and Cold War Kids.
In 2018, while Hays was away in Texas filming the indie 80s-inspired action movie Night Run, he lost his home and recording studio in the Woolsey Fire. Eventually, he rebuilt a small recording setup and rented a studio lockout in Burbank, which became his musical hideout. There, he began writing and recording as many songs as possible, including the debut single “Sleep Talk” – the first song ever released under his birth name. Of his most recent single “Sober,” American Songwriterraved, “with each note, we want the next.” Watch the official video here.
