Athens, GA folk-rock collective Family and Friends are currently on tour with The Oh Hellos. The seven-piece released a new EP earlier this year and today we premiere the official video for “Amadeus”  from XOXO. The group’s Mike MacDonald tells Relix, “When we set out to make a music video, the obvious questions began to arise such as cost, crew, scheduling, etc. to the extent that at a certain point we took a step back and said to ourselves, “we can make this happen on our own, and have a lot of fun with it in the process.” A few of us had some production experience, and we decided to take a real DIY and grassroots approach to it. The EP deals heavily with the concept of nostalgia, and we wanted to attempt to convey that emotion in the video as well as that childlike sense of wonder and imagination. We read a lot of Calvin And Hobbes growing up and were drawn to the idea of the adventures of a young boy and his best friend exploring and coming to grips with the world around them. My brother and I wrote the script essentially on his front porch kicking back and reliving memories of our childhood. We ended up doing everything in-house from directing to filming and editing, and even acting. Our bassist, Tuna, is essentially a bear in human clothes, so it only seemed natural that he would play the role of the stuffed animal. And our superstar lead actor, Oliver, is actually the son of our viola player, Maria. The band and a number of close friends rallied and came together to make the video come to life. In the end, it almost turned out to be more about the process and journey of creating something together than it was about the final product, and I think the video reflects that in a certain sense. After a long day of filming, it was great to just unwind in the warm glow of the living room and enjoy one another’s company. I like to think these are the days we’ll remember most.” 

Family and Friends’ upcoming tour dates appear below the video.