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

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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

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

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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…
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