I hope everyone is buckled in because an exciting pilot episode is landing on a TV near you! Seattle’s all-black rock band, The Black Tones, takes the ropes in becoming the newest official TV show to broadcast music videos! Airing on Seattle Channel (Ch. 21 on Comcast/Xfinity) and online at Seattlechannel.org as well as YouTube, Video Bebop will premiere Saturday, January 11, 2020.
Waking up to a series of music videos in the 90’s are definitely apart of our childhood memories. Whether it was MTV2, BET or even VH1 we knew where we could watch our favorite artists’ music videos until those channels got lost in time.
MTV2 was established in 1996 and became the de-facto channel for all music videos until being taken over by the reality TV trend. On November 4, 2014 BET announced that “106 & Park,” its music video countdown show, would air its last on-air episode December 19 2014, only being available online. On May 1, 2018, VH1 moved to Sky channel 174 and as a result, the channel began showing fewer music videos and more reality shows until VH1 ceased broadcasting on January 7, 2020.
Although the loss of these platforms was tragic we all can be happy to know that Video Bebop will carry out their legacies in the Pacific Northwest!
Video Bebop is a new kind of music video show highlighting the best of the Pacific Northwest. Hosted by twins Eva and Cedric Walker of The Black Tones, Video Bebop is the new home for music videos.
Exclusive Interview with Eva Walker on “Video Bebop”
Columbia City Theatre
How did you and your team come up with Video Bebop?
Eva Walker: My fiance Jake Uitti is a writer and he would get requests from musicians over the years to premiere their music videos. The process to do so, though, is clunky, involving embed codes, making links go live at certain times, etc. So, one day, Jake turned to me when we were working on stuff and said, “Hey, what if we just made a TV show for the videos?” Then we took that idea and ran with it together!
What influences helped you shape Video Bebop?
Eva Walker: MTV and Pee-wee Herman! And all the great artists in the Pacific Northwest.
How frequent will the episodes air?
Eva Walker: New ones once a month every second Saturday. Then those will re-air at least every other Saturday at 11pm. We’re working on whether or not the show will air during the week, though we think so sooner than later.
How many artists are featured in an episode?
Eva Walker: We are aiming for 5 different videos per episode, though that’s bound to change here and there given timing.
How do you select who gets a slot on the show?
Eva Walker: Artists can submit their video to VideoBebopTV@gmail.com and we look through those together. Anyone in our core team of 5 (me, Cedric, Jake, Alaia and Danny) can suggest or push for one.
In which ways would you like Video Bebop to Impact the community?
Eva Walker: Seattle is in need of a regular home for music videos. Now it has one! We hope the show pushes artists to make and submit more videos because it’s such a great medium!
How can the community best support this platform?
Eva Walker: By watching! and sharing content and submitting and just spreading the word.
Shot Edited and Directed by:
Danny Denial and Alaia D’Alessandro
Created by: Jake Uitti
Host: Seattle Channel
Special Thanks: Nancy Guppy
