Houseboats, skinny dipping and local music legends | News, Sports … – The Adirondack Daily Enterprise

SARANAC LAKE — Local rockers Darkside Skinny Dippers released their first all-original song “This Is Your High” on Friday, along with a music video which has been racking up views on social media.

The music video is done in true Adirondack fashion — three guys standing on top of a houseboat chugging down Lower Saranac Lake, the tamaracks changing color in the background, with Billy Allen — who bandleader Josh Clement calls “a champion of local music in the Adirondack region” — piloting the boat with a smile.

On top of the boat are Josh Clement on vocals and guitar, his son Colton on bass and drummer Chauncey Sutphen on the kit.

The song and video are an energetic celebration of life and music.

Josh said the project came together through “a bunch of happy accidents.”

“I think we all just have the strangest ideas at the weirdest times and one of us might say one of them out loud,” Sutphen said.

“It was an idea we had kicking around for a while,” Colton said. “Honestly, probably as soon as we saw the houseboat, somebody said, ‘we should probably get on top of that at some point.’”

It seemed right, Josh said, since he grew up on the lake.

“I’ve been running around on these waters here my whole life,” he said. “So to see three guys on top of a boat singing what I think is an uplifting song, it all just came together.”

On top of a moving houseboat is not the hardest place he’s played. He said he’s always trying to one-up himself. Years ago, he traveled to the summit of Whiteface Mountain with another band to film a music video for his song “Dot Com Rant!”

“It was interesting. A little rocky, a little wavy,” Sutphen said of playing on a boat.

“That was my first time playing drums on top of a houseboat. Maybe my last time,” he added. “Maybe next time, a yacht.”

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Leap of faith

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At the end of the song the band lives up to its name. Colton strips down and leaps into the water, bass in hand.

Colton said he knew if they were filming on the boat then he had to jump off it.

“Somebody’s got to jump in, right?” he said.

He didn’t get truly naked, though.

“I faked it,” Josh said.

What wasn’t faked was Colton launching himself into the chilly waters on Oct. 14.

He’s swam in water that cold plenty before, but usually when he gets out he gets out the air is 85 degrees, not 45.

“There were actually some people camping. They must’ve been like ‘What in the heck is going on here?’” Josh said. “I was like ‘Oh great. These people came up here to find some peace and now there’s these a**holes making a racket.’”

But he said after Colton jumped into the frigid waters, they started cheering.

The whole shoot took 23 takes, Josh said. On the last take, when they were nearing the end of the song, Colton said he was performing but in his head, he was psyching himself up for the leap.

“You only get to do the take once,” he said before adding, “At least, I’m only doing it once.”

Colton says he still has the waterlogged bass.

“It seems in working order. It’s still in tune,” he said.

He’s not sure it will sound good plugged in but it’s his stunt bass now.

“There’s a good chance it will make an appearance — something else stupid at some point,” Colton said.

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Family affair

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Recording the song and video brought the whole family in.

Josh’s wife, Holly, ran the main camera while her mother, Kate Fink, ran the second camera and her step-father, Chris Early, drove the camera boat.

“Getting family involved made it even a little more special,” Josh wrote in an email. “Couldn’t have done it without their help.”

Interspersed through the song are found sound clips of Colton, and Josh’s daughter Lennon, ages 3 and 4 at the time. Years ago, he gave them a mic and had them interview each other for a Mother’s Day gift.

Before the song starts, Lennon can be heard saying “check one, two … Check one, two,” like she heard her father doing.

“Colton?” Lennon asks in the clip. “Why do you like rock and roll?”

“Hmmm. Because it sounds good,” he responds.

Allen, a figurehead of the local music scene who used to own the Waterhole Music Lounge, is featured as a guest vocalist on the song.

Josh said Allen is also a long-time family friend.

“I really consider him like an uncle,” he said. “He probably changed my diaper on the Waterhole pool table.”

Allen was best friends with Josh’s dad, who died three years ago. Allen helped take care of Josh’s dad in the last months of his life. When Josh turned 21, and was old enough, Allen also gave the younger Clement and his bands time to play the Waterhole.

When Josh wrote “This is Your High,” he thought Allen would be a great fit for vocals on it. Now, he’s pinching himself, and says he feels lucky a friend and musical legend wanted to be involved.

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First song

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Josh wrote “This Is Your High” three years ago. He said he was unsure of what was going through his head at the time. It was a collection of free-flowing thoughts passing by.

He said songs mean different things to each person, and he wants to let it be. It has a meaning to him, but not one he knows how to articulate in words — only through song.

Josh finished editing the video on Thursday and uploaded it on Friday. As of Monday, the video had racked up 9,500 views on Facebook and 152 views on YouTube.

He said he wanted to get it out while the boat theme was relevant, and it was high time for the Darkside Skinny Dippers to put out an original song. Josh said they have a lot of original songs but haven’t officially released any. This one has spent enough time in the shop.

Josh said they’re working on a vinyl album to be released sometime next year.

Sutphen said “This Is Your High” was a more mellow sound for the band, which goes all the way to hard rock.

The song can be found on all music streaming sites by going to darksideskinnydippers.hearnow.com.

The music video can be viewed on the Darkside Skinny Dippers’ Facebook page at tinyurl.com/bdz9ysam or on YouTube at tinyurl.com/38fbn76x.