Like so many music fans originally slated to head out to the Southern California desert this month, Danny Elfman was excited about performing at Coachella 2020. With the COVID-19 pandemic postponing the annual music festival indefinitely, Elfman is finding new ways to channel his artistic energy.
“When we started our isolation, I found myself out of sorts (like most of us surely did). My energy was very low,” Elfman admitted on Instagram. “I had poured so much of myself into preparing for Coachella, and suddenly… nothing. Like everyone else, I was stunned and a little shell-shocked. I decided to return to an orchestral commission, but I found that my focus was also whacked from everything turning upside down.
RELATED: Thirty Years Later, “Beetlejuice” Still Jangles with Energy
“Weirdly, as I struggled though those first few weeks, an old tune I had written decades ago began running though my mind,” he continued. “I didn’t know why, but it didn’t go away. Eventually I decided not to resist and laid down tracks, just for the simple pleasure. It’s really almost like a nursery rhyme. Maybe under all that stress that’s why it came back to me, and just the act of recording it was really calming for my brain.”
The tune in question is “Running on a Treadmill,” the fifth track on Oingo Boingo’s second album, 1982’s Nothing to Fear.
“I decided finally to share it with everyone,” Elfman continued. “It’s silly and simple. Playing everything and singing live to my backing tracks. This thing is funky! This is NOT my new single or for a new album that I’m working on. Just a little something that was fun to record and relaxed me, and maybe it will do the same for you?”
Elfman added that the clip was (obviously) homemade, shot on an iPhone by his daughter Mali, and edited by “homie” and creative collaborator, Jon Mann Krieger. Check out the finished product below.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_NlXEiBHA7/
