Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Music
  3. Features

DT Premiere: World’s first FaceSwap music video is equal parts creepy, impressive

By

Up-and-coming musicians employ celebrity cameos in their music videos all the time, but New York songwriter Anthony D’Amato is the first to take just their faces and shoot the whole video himself.

Throughout the new video for his single, Rain On A Strange Roof, D’Amato uses an iPhone 6 to swap his mug with that of numerous male and female celebs, creating a new genre of music media in the process: The Selfie FaceSwap Music Video.

“When I saw that SnapChat had updated the FaceSwap video feature I got really excited about all the weird possibilities.”

The quirky stream was recorded via SnapChat’s FaceSwap feature, and sees the performer blending his bearded face with that of Paula Dean, Robert Deniro and many more. It’s a funny visual experience which has the performer visibly cracking up on numerous occasions.

“When I saw that SnapChat had updated the FaceSwap video feature to incorporate photos saved on your phone, I got really excited about all the weird possibilities,” the songwriter told Digital Trends about the project. “The song is about those terrifying moments when you realize you’re falling for someone, all the places your mind goes, and all the ways your perception of yourself and your partner can change, so the visual of me rifling through all these shifting faces and projecting different identities felt right.”

While D’Amato might have to (literally) phone in his film celebrities in virtual way, he is working with some of the best modern American songwriters in real life.

The new song will be featured on an upcoming summer release ironically titled Cold Snap, which was recorded with Bright Eyes members Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, and his 2014 record The Shipwreck From The Shore featured members of Bon Iver and Megafaun.

Anthony D'Amato Rain On A Strange Roof
Image used with permission by copyright holder

A seriously talented musician who has been featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk, and shared bills with Josh Ritter, Rhett Miller, and Ben Folds, D’Amato’s Rain On A Strange Roof is light and airy — an upbeat number which perfectly suits its odd rooftop video.

If the new album is anywhere near as fun as this song is, there should be a bright future for the songwriter. Cold Snap is out on June 17th via New West Records, and is currently available for preorder. D’Amato will tour to support the new material this June and July. To see if he will be playing near you, we recommend taking a gander at his website.

Pre-Order Cold Snap on iTunes

Buy Rain on a Strange Roof on iTunes

Topics
Parker Hall
Parker Hall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…
How to download music from SoundCloud on desktop and mobile
Soundcloud Interface on a Macbook.

If you’re a huge music fan, you’ve probably combed through the many playlists, artists, and albums of your Spotify or Apple Music subscription. But what about all the indie artists of the world? Some music-streaming platforms are better than others at celebrating the
‘unsung gem’ acts, but one of the most reliable forums for new, off-the-grid tunes is SoundCloud.

Founded in 2007, SoundCloud has always prioritized music that’s a bit under the radar. With over 320 million tracks in its library, the platform will even let you download a majority of its songs and albums.

Read more
The best kids headphones of 2024: for fun, safety, and sound
Two kids using the Puro Sound PuroQuiet Plus to watch something on a tablet.

Kid-friendly consumer tech is all the rage these days, so it’s no surprise that there’s an entire market of headphones designed exclusively for young ones. But when we think “kid-friendly,” sometimes we imagine products that are built to be a bit more throwaway than their adult counterparts. That’s not the case with the products on our list of the best headphones for kids, though.

We want our child-tailored headphones to include parental-controlled volume limiters, to ensure our children aren’t harming their eardrums. Pretty much every entry on our list checks this vital box, but we also wanted to point you and yours toward products that offer exceptional noise-canceling, built-in mics for phone and video calls, and long-lasting batteries for schooldays or a long flight.

Read more
How to master your equalizer settings for the perfect sound
An equalizer from eqMac.

While most people will simply flip on the radio or load up Spotify to listen to music, audiophiles like to dig a bit deeper and customize their experience. This often comes in the form of adjustments to the equalizer, which offers the freedom to tweak every aspect of the sound booming out of headphones or speakers. Even some streaming services now have built-in EQs, giving you more ways than ever to play with your music and find something that best fits your ears.

Tinkering with the equalizer can be daunting to newcomers, as there are tons of cryptic settings you can manipulate. And if you mess with the wrong one, your sound quality might take a nasty hit. Thankfully, learning the basics isn't too difficult.

Read more