🎶 Never Trust the Quiet Ones 🎶
EMPIRE WAIST's bonus music video is LIVE on YouTube and Spotify!
Watch EMPIRE WAIST at home on digital and on-demand!
Secret’s Out!
Musical theater lovers rejoice! “(Never Trust) The Quiet Ones” — our surprise musical number from EMPIRE WAIST’s end credits — is now available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, and more.
FUN FACT: “(Never Trust) The Quiet Ones” is the first musical number I ever wrote, made musically possible by my friend and brilliant composer Eric Gersen.
It also seems fitting that I wrote it for Kassandra Tellez (Diamond) for her first movie ever. Just like our star Jemima Yevu (Kayla), Kassandra found out about EMPIRE WAIST through our nationwide casting call. And just like Jemima’s parents, her mom ALSO thought it was a scam to kidnap her. Fortunately, we cleared that up.
As those of you who’ve watched the movie know, Kayla’s Grand-maman (played by the brilliant Ene Oloja) has a distinct mistrust of quiet people due to her favorite show: “Mime? Or Murderer?” And that Diamond is essentially a silent character. Very suspicious…
During my initial 1:1 with Kassandra on Zoom, I not only learned more about her experience growing up as a first-generation Chicana in Minnesota, but that she was also an incredible singer — whose journey to Berklee School of Music for that gift was derailed by the COVID pandemic.
My brain started to buzz. Silent character? With a secret talent? AKA Grand-maman’s nightmare?
Simply put: It had to happen.
And so, “(Never Trust) The Quiet Ones” was born. I wrote the lyrics in 48 hours before handing them off to Eric Gersen to compose.
Once we were up in Syracuse during pre-production, my cinematographer Maria Rusche and I worked off a comp of Kassandra singing to create a shot list before the cast arrived. (There is a mortifying video of me singing and doing ALL the moves somewhere on Google Drive. Permission to play it at my funeral.)
We got Kassandra in the booth to record the official song after our first week of filming with Eric joining us by Zoom, all coordinated by my brilliant assistant (and now producer) Jack Hobbs.
And THEN we shot the whole music video in 45 MINUTES! That was…wild. Kassandra, ever the pro, had practiced her choreography (thanks to my funeral video) for two full weeks so she was ready to go at any moment. So proud that the world can finally see Kassandra shine.
Special thanks to our incredible crew for making it HAPPEN!
And remember…
When it comes to the soft spoken
Bet your trust will soon be broken
Cuz those who are loquacious
don’t hide bodies in their basements!
Love,
Claire & Team Empire Waist