Staff photo / Ashley Fox Art Miller, left, and Josh Hones produced and directed a rap music video that includes muscle cars. The duo have built a strong friendship, they said, due to a similar work ethic.
STRUTHERS — When the opportunity presented itself, Art Miller of Struthers took the chance to produce and direct a rap music video.
“I didn’t know it was on my bucket list,” he said.
Working with Josh Hones of the Youngstown area, who co-directed and co-produced the project, Miller said he gained friends and used the experience to help people network.
During the 2019 Hot Rod Super Nationals car show in Canfield, Miller and Hones met, “hitting it off” almost immediately, Miller said.
Hones told Miller, a vehicle enthusiast, about an upcoming video shoot he was involved with, and extended an invitation.
Miller and a longtime friend known as “Yepper” went to Nexus Sound Studio in Youngstown at the encouragement of Miller’s wife Dena.
The project was a music video for “American Muscle Vol. 1” by Youngstown artist SANE with GunZ.
“We got to see how it’s done,” Miller said of the video-making process. “It was cool. We’d never seen the behind-the-scenes.”
As the day went on, Hones asked Miller if he and his friend would like to be in the video, so they accepted.
That project wrapped up, and winter came. Miller reached out to Hones about a collaboration for an “American Muscle Vol. 2,” with the idea to show muscle cars.
“If it’s something great, great. If it’s nothing more than a project, we’ll all look back and think, ‘That was a fun time,'” Miller said, looking back.
Once again with encouragement from his wife, Miller said: “The worst thing that comes out of it is I made a cool video I can always look back on. The best case is, if it goes big, (the) guys get a little bit of fame out of it.”
After discussing the project, Miller took on the role of a producer, personally providing money and finding sponsors.
He came up with an idea for the music video and gave the outline to Hones, who worked with the artists to come up with lyrics.
When the lyrics were finished, Miller verified that the terminology was reflective of the vehicles — a foreign car and his 2010 Shelby Mustang.
“The story is you bet for money, set everything up, go tune the car and end up at the track to race,” Miller summarized.
The day of filming wasn’t without obstacles, Miller said.
At one point it rained, so the vehicles had to be cleaned between takes. Footage from a second camera wasn’t usable, Miller said.
Trying to coordinate schedules of everyone involved was challenging, too, he said.
One aspect that wasn’t challenging was working with Hones. Miller said they have the same approach to achieving goals.
Hones echoed the sentiment.
“From beginning to the end I felt like we respected each other’s expertise,” Hones said. Miller’s knowledge “and life experience in the street race and muscle car scene, and mine in music composing, writing lyrics and vocal recording” complemented each other, he said.
That work ethic continued into the editing process, with three sessions adding up to 32 hours, Miller said.
Miller, a 1992 graduate of Lowellville High School, said, “American Muscle Vol. 2” was a way for people to build bridges, regardless of whether they have a college education or not, such as his case.
Within 24 hours of its Sept. 13 unveiling, “American Muscle Vol. 2” had more than 5,000 views.
As of Friday afternoon, there are nearly 16,000 views.
The video can be viewed at Youtube.com, and searching “American Muscle Vol. 2.”
One thing Miller took away from the project is how everyone networked.
“It’s amazing how many people linked up and are friends now,” he said.
WHERE TO WATCH: The video can be viewed at youtube.com, and searching “American Muscle Vol. 2.”
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