When he was in Model Zero, Frank McLallen was a member of a weird candy cult. As a member of The Tennessee Screamers, he was chased by gangsters. When he went solo, he became a “Maniac.” Now, for the second video from his album Extra Eyes, McLallen goes to the mall.
More accurately, he went to the mall. Opened in 1988, the Oak Court Mall was for decades the shopping destination East Memphis. Before demolition started in April, McLallen and director Micky Thordarson of Low Budget Films Productions got inside to film a video for “Everybody’s Looking For The Mirror.”
“She suggested the idea and I was immediately on board,” McLallen says. “It’s a place where
we both spent a lot of time growing up, just in different eras. Because the mall was about to shut its doors for good, there were all these empty stores with unlit glass windows creating a mirror-like effect. Between that and the polished dark tiles, there was reflection everywhere.”
The liminal spaces Thordarson captured mirrored the mood of the song. “This song is the observation of everyday nuance in a world that’s getting increasingly louder,” McLallen says. “It also touches on how easy it is to put on blinders and focus on your portrayed image: vanity as a distraction to the madness that surrounds us.”
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
