Behind The Scenes: ONEFROMTHENORTH - Menial (Official Video)

McKeenan: Menial was one of the first finished songs for the album and actually it was ready in summer 2022. The writing process was quite similar to Silence and Me; I just grabbed the guitar, set everything up, and started playing. Everything was easy and came instantly and there were no parts that needed to be solved and fit into the song. And I think it can be seen and heard in the song as well.

The lyrics and the meaning of the song are in many layers, and I believe those fit many listeners' ears. The song is a metaphor. The story is about a patient who is unable to move and gets beaten every day by narcissistic and violent nurses. The patient is sitting in a chair, and the body is not working anymore, but the mind is clear and understands what is happening. The patient is tied and locked in the darkroom for a night, and the next day the beating and violence start again. The only time to escape and let the mind free is when the night comes, the beating stops, and the lights are off. Now imagine this to the toxic workplace, narcissistic boss or a partner, high individual expectations, and if you lose, you will be nothing. This is real life and happens to many people - every day. But the song is also very personal and related to past life experiences as well. Like said, there are many layers.

The music video is done together with Teemu Tuomioja. Teemu is a good friend of mine from the past, and he is a semi-professional photographer as well - extremely committed and talented. The video came also quite easily as there was a clear vision of how it was going to be. I did the storyboard and sent it to Teemu and took some comments from him. The filming day itself was a winter day - dark as hell as it used to be here in Finland in wintertime. Teemu took care of all the lights and colors for the video as well as filming. My part was quite easy after all, playing guitar and singing. It went smoothly forward but took time to fix all the lighting and so on so it took some time to do it. But it was definitely worth it. Cut and editing we made together and I believe there will be videos like this in the future as well - simple, clear, and to the point. Just like the music!