Johnny Butler

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ARTIST STATEMENT:

“The black iron fire escape was cold in the morning rain, but I still made it to the fifth floor. The window was open, so I came in, not only to touch, to smell, to taste, but to remember. That is it what I wanted from this, yes, to remember. It looked deserted. The mail was piling up. But, I was not alone. Something was here, watching me, waiting…”

Intruder tells the story of a man who breaks into an abandoned apartment and finds more than he is looking for. With luscious music by Johnny Butler and visceral choreography by Alex Jenkins, the short film is a mind-bending visual and auditory experience that invites you into the fever dream.

BIO:

Johnny Butler is playing his saxophone under a bridge, into a little box, filling the room with sound like a mossy creek, a red mountain plateau in the sun, an icy tundra at dusk. The sounds remind you of traveling, moving to a new city, a new job, a new apartment. They remind you of an orchestra tuning before a concert. They remind you of a renaissance court jester. You imagine florescent watercolors spilling off the page, pooling on the floor. You find yourself looking inward, thinking about when you were young. You think about your secrets, the ones you don’t want anyone to know.

Johnny Butler is a Grammy Award-winning saxophonist, composer, dancer, and filmmaker. He has performed, written, and recorded with many of his musical heroes, including Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers) Wynton Marsalis, The Levon Helm Band, and Tune-Yards.

Visit his website here.