"Holiday Ex-Lover" (2022)
"Love To Fight" (2021)
"Stay" Official Music Video (2020)
"No King" Live Acoustic (2020)
"Sebben, Crudele" (2020)
Reyka Vodka Commercial (2020) & Maryland Department of Agriculture Commercial (2020)
"Pillcauzbee" Official Music Video (2019)
"Skip to Sunrise" Official Music Video (2017)
"Holiday Ex-Lover" Official Music Video (2022)
Outcalls was selected by DC-based opera company UrbanArias to write and record an original holiday song and corresponding music video. The video stars Britt and Melissa as themselves as well as each other's old flames, with a guest appearance by professional wrestler Rob Repasi. Black-and-white film represents present day with flashback storytelling filmed in color. The song opens with Melissa reminscing about her "ex-Italian lover" and how they met on Christmas Day; Britt tells Melissa about her lover, Avi with whom she shared a dance on the first night of Hanukkah. "Holiday Ex-Lover" is a charming holiday earworm that remembers in fondness "the one that got away."
"Love To Fight" Official Music Video (2021)
Soulful vocals, sequins, and shadowy synths. "Love To Fight" is a collaboration with Baltimore artist Micah E. Wood and the opening track of Greatest Hits, Vol. 1. The Studio 54-inspired music video was shot, edited, and directed by Eric Wright Jr. and Jabari Jefferson of Mass Comm Guru Productions. Set at Baltimore's beloved music venue Ottobar, "Love To Fight" is choreographed by RoVo Monty with appearances by Kevin Powe Jr. (bass) and Charles Wilson (drums).
"Stay" Official Music Video (2020)
Produced by Outcalls and UMBERTO LEE, "Stay" stars Britt and Melissa as sword-fighting seekers of revenge. After Britt's boyfriend (portrayed by her real-life husband, Elliott Rauh) forgets her birthday, the two women decide that he must answer for his crime. Shot in the Harwood and Mt. Vernon neighborhoods of Baltimore, the film features epic cityscapes, fight choreography by weapons expert Lewis Shaw, and unmistakable Charm City swag.
“Stay” promises to be another hit among the duo’s feminist canon with a story familiar to all of us: Failed romance and the petty grudges which resurface during the throes of a breakup. Moments of silence and sparse accompaniment are used throughout the piece in order to showcase natural vocal quality and lyrical content. A lilting ballad melts into the soulful, pulsating chorus with the addition of bass guitar and kick drum. By the second verse, a rhythmic "about face" dials into an unrelenting vocal patter. This work highlights the duo's knack for drama and willingness to defy pop formulas in order to present the best story.
"No King" Live Acoustic (2020)
The results of the 2016 election were devastating for millions of women all over the world. Outcalls wrote "No King" during this period of unrest and anger leading up to the election of twice-impeached president, Donald J. Trump. After four years of performing the song live, it has become an Outcalls mantra for standing up to power.
In November 2020, the group was invited to perform for Baltimore's The Real News Network as part of their Election Night coverage. This live version of "No King" was designed, filmed, and edited by Outcalls.
"Sebben, Crudele" (2020)
The Pleiades Project is an NYC-based artist collective whose mission is to promote and develop the work of female-identifying artists. Their video project, 24, is adapted from a famous collection of 24 Baroque tunes which are often assigned as first songs to beginning voice students. Many singers end up despising the collection because of its constant use, but this project is meant to reimagine the work as a vehicle for contemporary women’s stories. At the conclusion of this series, The Pleiades Project will have showcased the diverse work of 30 female artists, including singers, directors, editors, choreographers, and fine artists.
“Sebben, Crudele” by Outcalls is part of the fifth season of 24. With their contribution, Britt and Melissa meant to parody a typical conservatory musician experience. Inspired by the overwhelming number of video meetings and online learning platforms as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the setting is the first day of voice performance class taking place via Zoom. In this episode, when Britt and Melissa each forget to prepare a song for class, they turn their cameras off, mute their microphones, and throw together a version of Antonio Caldara’s “Sebben, Crudele” which leaves their colleagues shaking with envy.
Reyka Vodka Commercial (2020) & Maryland Department of Agriculture Commercial (2020)
Since March 2020 when COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, most live music events in Baltimore have been relegated to online and outdoor gatherings. WTMD Radio was one of the first organizations to announce a virtual summer concert series to be streamed on Facebook Live. They invited Outcalls to create commercials for their July and September Virtual First Thursdays sponsored by Reyka Vodka and the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Both commercials were directed, written, filmed, scored, and edited by Outcalls.
"Pillcauzbee" Official Music Video (2019)
"Pillcauzbee" is a soulful, trance-pop ballad that depicts the excitement of a night out followed by the terror of being drugged and unable to move. The victim challenges their accuser with the words, "Here's a question for your heart: Did you leave with what you wanted?"
Multimedia artist and experimental animator Oona Taper led creative direction and animation for "Pillcauzbee." Aesthetically, the animated video uses mixed media with primary figures created in ink, then color-inverted to produce white lines on black background. Additional textures and patterns combine vivid colors in pastel, paint and digital forms as well as 2D paper stop-motion puppets.
"Skip to Sunrise" Official Music Video (2017)
Like an operatic ensemble number, "Skip to Sunrise" overlaps two different vocal melodies and sparse lyrical phrases to express individual thoughts on the same event. Vocal polyphony is juxtaposed with sections of unison singing to illustrate both the confusion and moments of clarity within a volatile relationship. A reoccuring melisma, sung in unison by both voices at the end of every polyphonic phrase, functions as a chorus throughout the piece.
Conceptualized by Baltimore writer, playwright, and director Lola B. Pierson, the music video is a collection of experiments in light manipulation, facial expression, and movement. In one frame, ignited sparklers trace the letters "O-U-T-C-A-L-L-S" in an otherwise completely dark room. In another, Wimbish and Olsen-Ecker perform classic Meyerhold movement etudes donning sequin gowns under a red spotlight. These elements of random, experimental theatre combined with imaginatively lit shots and post-production effects by Skyler Jenkins make for a transfixing video debut.