More than Satisfied

Thick, white smoke hangs in the air of a west Edmonton warehouse. Eight vertical rows of dim light bulbs cast an eerie glow across the set of what feels like a serial killer film. “Playback!” yells director Colin Minihan as he crouches on the wet cement floor, ready to shoot another take of Social Code’s new video, Satisfied.

Dirty guitars and squeals of feedback fill the room. Frontman Travis Nesbitt grips his microphone and lunges toward the camera as his bandmates casually bounce beside him in the shadows. Ninety seconds later, the St. Albert rockers and the tune stop. Nesbitt strolls to the back of the warehouse, where a makeup artist, a few journalists and video crew members wait around. “No lunging in any future videos,” smiles the singer, rubbing his thighs and eyeing the makeshift stripper pole next to him, waiting to be used by one of the video’s actresses.

“It’s pretty much your standard rock n’ roll video,” says Nesbitt. “The song is about a sexually expressive woman so we’re trying to illustrate that with strippers and models.”

Satisfied is the first single from Social Code’s new album, Rock ‘N’ Roll. It’s also the band’s most successful single — it’s No. 11 on the Canadian rock charts — and it’s starting to break in the U.S. The video for the single, shot less than two weeks ago, is now posted on YouTube.

Nesbitt is excited by Social Code’s reversal of fortunes. After five years and two albums on a major record label, the band left Universal Music Canada last year and released Rock ‘N’ Roll on their own. (The disc will make its U.S. debut in March.) “I’m super, super pumped,” he says. “It took us a number of years to get here but now we’re doing it all ourselves.”

Well, not entirely. Staff from AXE Productions and students from NAIT are helping with the making of Satisfied. Social Code initially wanted to shoot the video in — grr! — Vancouver, but then decided to shoot in Edmonton. “Being a hometown band, people chipped in,” says Nesbitt. He came up with the concept of the video — along with Colin Minihan, who won director of the year at last June’s MuchMusic Video Awards. The Vancouver lensman has a soft spot for YEG bands — he’s shot at least four Ten Second Epic clips (Life Times, Avenue Days, Old Habits Die Hard, Count Yourself In) and five for Social Code, including He Said She Said, Everyday (Late November), and Bomb Hands. “He’s blowing up,” says Nesbitt. “He’s just easy to work with.”

A few minutes later, the musicians are back in front of Minihan’s camera. “Quiet please, everyone,” he shouts, silencing a few of the noisier guests. “Last minute of song.”