First Look: Mario Cuomo’s “Leftovers” Music Video
Jay Curtis Miller has spent the last 14 months reliving Halloween. The Nashville-based filmmaker and music video director is currently finishing up the film festival run for his short film “Jack,” the one-take story of a love triangle gone bad on the scariest night of the year.
After a string of festival premieres across the country that included the Nashville Film Festival and the Atlanta Horror Film Festival, Miller thought he was done with projects set during the holidays. But then, his “Jack” collaborator and Chicago-based musician Mario Cuomo had an idea. “Last fall, I was making ‘Jack,’ and I reached out to him because I needed a song in time with everything that's going on in that scene,” Miller said. “So, I asked Mario if I could use his song, ‘Punch Drunk.’ Then, I started listening to all of his work when I needed more songs. In August or September, Mario sent me the demo for ‘Leftovers’ and told me his concept. I was like, ‘Yeah, let's make this happen.’”
While the rest of us are trying to figure out our Thanksgiving plans, Miller and Cuomo are gearing up for the online premiere of “Leftovers,” the latest solo single from the frontman who got his start in indie music as the lead singer of The Orwells. “I actually wasn't thinking about Thanksgiving at all. I just kept thinking about how annoyed I would get when my girlfriend would not finish her food that was piling up in the fridge,” Cuomo said. “It wasn’t really a big deal, but it was a funny line. And then I thought that Thanksgiving’s around the corner, so maybe we could do an American family type thing.”
“Leftovers” finds a traditional nuclear family just trying to hold it together as they get through their annual meal. Dad’s an NRA freak, Mom’s on uppers, and their twenty-something daughter just can’t keep the white powder out of her nose. Alternating roles between dinner guest and one-man band, Cuomo serves as accompanist to all the built-up rage. “I created some 1950s wholesome Thanksgiving family dinner pictures and wanted to sprinkle that in with this chaotic, dying nuclear family in 2024 and just kill it at the end,” Miller said. “It's sad that this ideal, the idyllic American family, is dying because of this range of issues going on that we see on social media.”
On a weekend jaunt to Nashville from Chicago, Cuomo recorded the song at a local studio while collaborating with Matchbox 20 lead guitarist Kyle Cook. After two full days of recording, Cuomo readied himself for the video shoot. “When I listen to the song, I’m like, ‘Yeah, this guy has so much experience and so many hits under his belt.’ He had such great ideas for somebody he’d never met before,” Cuomo said of his time with Cook. “For it to turn out like it did, it takes a down-to-earth, really talented person.”
The video may tap into the flood of articles focusing on politically divided families canceling the holidays this year, but the project wrapped before Donald Trump won his second term. Regardless of the election results, Miller and Cuomo actively resisted making a trite political statement even though they built the video around an astute sense of social critique on par with 90s alt-rock MTV staples like Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Nada Surf’s “Popular.” “I didn't want it to be a super political video, because I definitely find that stuff cringy,” Cuomo said. “I've never felt like taking a stance in my music.”
“Leftovers” will premiere on Thanksgiving Day via Cuomo’s social media platforms. Jay Curtis Miller’s other projects are on his website.