This song goes out to the late Tom Pfaeffle.
The Bothell band Colossal Boss released the music video for their song “Fool” last week. The video may be new, but the song was recorded more than 10 years ago by Pfaeffle, a renowned sound engineer who worked with Nirvana, The Black Crowes and Heart.
Shortly after his recording session with Colossal Boss, Pfaeffle was shot to death in 2009 when he tried to open the wrong hotel room with his key.
“We wanted to give a shout-out to him,” Colossal Boss lead singer Steven Antonsen said.
Colossal Boss is made up of frontman Antonsen, guitarist Ted Norris, bassist Fraser Midstokke and drummer Corey Olsen.
The hard rock band formed in 2004, then called Midstokke (pronounced “mid-stock”), and released three albums. Now known as Colossal Boss, the band released its self-titled EP in 2015, followed by a few singles.
“Fool” — a rock ballad with a soulful, bluesy sound — is the band’s second video directed by Marysville native A.K. Romero.
A.K. Romero is the film name of Ben Shumski, a Marysville Pilchuck High School alum. Romero moved from Everett to New York right before the coronavirus outbreak. The band let him settle into his new home in Queens before finishing the video.
Two years ago, they released the video for the single “Thinkin’ and Drinkin.’” That video was filmed at Bothell’s Bert’s Tavern, which has been the band’s watering hole for years.
“Thinkin’ and Drinkin’” tells the story of how one shy guy tries to muster up the courage to talk to the prettiest girl at the bar, and keeps “thinkin’ and drinkin’” about her. All four band members play the shy guy at one point in the video.
There’s no story to go along with the video for “Fool.” It was filmed in black and white, in the abandoned Jeld-Wen warehouse on the Everett waterfront. That’s because Romero wanted the band’s talent to be the No. 1 focus.
“It’s a great follow-up to ‘Thinkin’ and Drinkin,’ because it shows the range of the band,” he said. “I fanned out a little bit. This is an amazing song that people need to hear.”
Norris wrote half the lyrics for it, then Antonsen wrote the other half. They worked on the music together.
“It’s about bad break-ups,” Norris said. “Where at first you think it’s them, and then you wonder how much of it was actually you. It’s that kind of head space.”
Colossal Boss recorded a stripped-down version of the song with Pfaeffle in 2009, but Romero asked that they fill out the sound for the video. So the band recorded it again, this time adding keyboards and a back-up singer to the song. The new version was recorded by Brandon Goehner of Sound Box Studio.
“We’re just a four-piece rock band, but we really wanted to put a lot of pieces to the puzzle in the song,” Antonsen said.
The band’s next video will be for the song “Jellybean,” a lullaby Antonsen wrote for his older daughter. It’s already been recorded.
Norris and Antonsen have both been furloughed from their day jobs, at a music store and a restaurant, respectively, because of the governor’s stay-at-home order. They now have more time for music.
Antonsen has been posting videos of himself playing the harmonica. He lets his two daughters, Adeline and Ruby, run around in the background. Norris plans to write more — the band’s latest singles “Thinkin’ and Drinkin’” and “Fool” were originally his ideas.
The band hopes the release of these music videos will draw more fans and lead to more shows.
“With all that is going on right now with the virus, we know that people are craving entertainment at home,” Antonsen said.
Watch the music video for Colossal Boss’ “Fool” on YouTube.
Colossal Boss frontman Steven Antonsen plays the harmonica in the recording of “Fool.” (A.K. Romero)
Guitarist Ted Norris had the original idea behind the song “Fool.” (A.K. Romero)
Colossal Boss is made up of Fraser Midstokke on bass, Cory Olsen on drums, Steven Antonsen on vocals and Ted Norris on guitar. (A.K. Romero)
