Will Schutze is a master puppeteer of the Dallas music scene

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If this whole world is a stage and men and women are just actors, as Shakespeare suggested, then Will Schutze is a director. While most of us ignore our various scenes and roles, Schutze constructs his own and imagines beings to populate them as puppets, whether they are Dickens’ Scrooge, living room singing skeletons, hellish autobiographical rabbit boys, or his latest effort, a music video for the latest album by local band Chilldren of Indigo Native alien.

As he waltzes from place to place in his studio, Schutze’s eye for detail, similar to Poirot’s, breaks down his puppet movements into their basic forms, then he gets to work.

“The puppet animates an inanimate object [and] Probably goes back to a time in human evolution when it was beneficial to pretend a rock was your friend, ”Schutze explains. “Shadow puppets, rod puppets, puppets, hand puppets, robotics / animatronics, toy theater … it’s old.”

Schutze makes his point by referring to the remains of puppets found in ancient Egypt.

“Even the Venus of Willendorf could possibly be a puppet, ”he says.“ The idea of ​​bringing a handmade object to life is everywhere; a computer could be thought of as a puppet. Avatars. Video games. Drones. It’s also very popular right now in mainstream politics to call someone a puppet. ”

And now, thanks to Schutze, puppets are also trending in North Texas music videos, as artists such as Honey Folk seek out his vision.

Jo Indigo from Chilldren of Indigo says he met Schutze in 2018 Dallas Watcher Music Awards and “decided that we should work together at some point in the future.”

The future is now, and the video is for the band’s song “Tomorrow Ain’t Promised”. Forties, Indigo says, served as a good excuse to revisit the idea. Schutze made puppet versions of each member of the group for the video.

“The idea of ​​bringing a handmade object to life is ubiquitous; a computer could be thought of as a puppet.” – Will Schutze

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“He was so passionate about the album that I told him to pick his favorite song and the rest was his dedication and his idea nonstop,” Indigo said of Schutze. “He literally came from Austin for our show at Capricorn Drive-in in Fair Park so he could put our movements and our personalities into the puppets.

“I really worked a lot to try to get some of everyone’s stage presence with the movement,” adds Schutze. “For example, I really thought about how [band member] Ryan Sneed shaking his head playing bass is such a great bassist move and I wanted to understand it. I think I did. ”

“I was amazed,” Indigo said thoughtfully before continuing enthusiastically. “Jay [Indigo]the puppet pulling up his glasses at the beginning makes me crack… a super precise mannerism. Ryan too [Sneed]Fender’s puppet is just plain hype, but also all-Fender amps and instruments are rightfully what we actually play. ”

Indigo says Schutze was detailed in his portrayal of the group, right down to creating a pair of Jordan shoes for Sneed’s puppet and Jay Indigo’s turquoise glasses and red hat.

“We have all of these clothes,” he says.

This astonished answer is standard for those familiar with Schutze and his work, largely due to his passion and dedication bordering on obsession with the puppet.

“Making puppets to represent real people was one of the hardest things I did with puppetry,” says Schutze. “I think I said they would probably end up looking like a child’s drawing. In fact, they ended up looking cool. ”

Jo Indigo adds, “As far as I’m concerned, it’s Will’s song now.”

Watch “Tomorrow is not promised” below:


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