As Champaign-Urbana’s own beloved indie-punk band preps for its sophomore album release, Nectar released its second-ever music video today to supplement its latest single, “Routine.” 

The band released its first music video – for its song “Birthday” – in 2019. 

Vocalist and guitarist Kamila Glowacki said filming the video reminded her of the appreciation she has for local businesses, along with the relationships she’s built in the community.

The band is made up of Glowacki, bassist Isabel Skidmore, guitarist Aaron Shults and drummer Jake Mott.

The video features Glowacki playing the upbeat song in multiple local treasures, such as Hopscotch Bakery, Exile on Main Street, Plant Mode and Flying Machine Avionics. 

Though the full band is featured in a few shots, Glowacki – the primary songwriter – is the main focus. 

She said it was more efficient for only her to move among locations and be filmed rather than moving the entire band and its equipment from business to business. Also, by featuring only one band member, the video gave an almost intimate look into a person’s experience with routine. 

Some of the places featured in the video fall into the theme of routine, Glowacki said, while others are more directly connected to Champaign-Urbana. She said the featured places make day-to-day life more enjoyable and comforting. 

“All of these help to kind of ignite joy in some way and help you enjoy life, which I feel like all is under the theme of this song to find joy in the everyday routines,” she said.

One of the coolest places Glowacki filmed in was Plant Mode in Champaign, she said, because of the shop’s beautiful greenery. 

She credited Veronica Mullen – a local videographer and photographer who is active in the DIY music scene – for helping the band “capture the essence of the song in a visual format.”

Glowacki said the video is a love letter to Champaign-Urbana, saying there’s more to the community than just the University. 

“When people think of our towns here, it’s really focused on the University,” she said. “But there’s so much more to it that makes this place really great, and I wanted to spotlight that in some way.” 

She said it was an “organizational undertaking” to contact multiple local businesses and ask to film. The band filmed most of the shots between Nov. 13 and 14 and often visited the locations before the businesses opened or after they closed to avoid interfering with customers and for extra safety precautions. 

One of the hardest aspects of filming was keeping things consistent between shots, Glowacki said, such as ensuring her outfit changed as minimally as possible between shots. Another challenge was the cold temperature, she said, saying she was freezing while shooting the outdoor scenes. 

Glowacki said many businesses were kind and supportive of the band’s project, saying she’s grateful to have so many good connections within the community. 

“I just really appreciate the relationships and connections that we’ve been able to build,” she said. “And I think the video is just sort of a time capsule of all these places that I love.” 

The video includes some Easter eggs for viewers to watch out for, including the mirror imagery at the beginning of the video, which Glowacki said contained important symbolism for the band’s future artwork. The single’s artwork is also featured right at the video’s beginning. 

In one scene, Glowacki shops for lemons at the grocery store. Lemons are frequently used in the band’s album artwork and visual designs, she said, because they represent the band’s “mixture of sweetness but also kind of melancholy and angst.” 

There’s also a tribute to “10 Things I Hate About You” in the scene where Glowacki plays her Fender Stratocaster with her eyes closed in Corson Music, emulating the scene where Kat Stratford plays a Squier Strat with her eyes closed in a music store. 

Glowacki said she hopes the music video encourages the community to continue supporting local businesses. 

“Visiting these places, especially over the pandemic, was one of the few things that kept me going and gave me something to look forward to,” she said. “So, I’m just so grateful to all of these places, and I hope it’s (the music video) another reminder to keep supporting them because that’s what makes this place great.”

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