Lakota musician's Zoom-style music video turns heads at NPR

Following an honourable mention on NPR's Tiny Desk Contest video in 2018, Mato Wayuhi and his band Treehorse thought they might submit again.

A submission to the Tiny Desk contest typically involves a performer — usually behind a small desk — and a band, all performing in a tight space, similar to NPR's Tiny Desk performance series.

But there was a small issue: the world is in the midst of a pandemic, and crowding behind a tiny desk wasn't an option. 

Wayuhi, a Lakota musician, had to be a bit creative in his approach. "I was kind of thinking like, 'what are the different ways we can stay performing?'" he said.

They tried a Zoom call, but the latency and timing was off — and with seven performers, it'd be a challenge.

So Wayuhi asked Treehorse to record their own lines for an unreleased song — both in audio and on video — and he structured the submission to the contest like a Zoom call.

Similar to a call, the musicians appear and drop off as they are playing their parts. Wayuhi is surrounded by his bandmates, many of whom dance and vibe to the track on their own. 

He wanted to give each member a chance to shine, and like a Zoom call, there's always someone to look at. 

Though pre-recording the audio and matching video made the impossible more manageable, it still wasn't without its challenges. 

"It was tough to get the timing right," Wayuhi said. "I was thanking the Creator for making sure my computer didn't crash during any of that."

The video was once again picked up by NPR as one of the early submissions they loved. Wayuhi said his fans loved the video too, because it's an unreleased track.

Staying creative

Wayuhi said the music he's been making lately, especially during the pandemic, has been "some of the most primitive" stuff he's made. He's messing around with sampling and sharing more of his creative process with his fans, something he didn't do much of before.

Typically more of a private person, Wayuhi is sharing some of the samples he's working with, ones he's finding through his mom's old CD and vinyl collection.

Recently, Wayuhi found an old record of Cherokee singer Rita Coolidge's band, Walela. He sampled one of their songs and posted a video of it on his social media.

"It was kind of a marriage of all these parts of my identity," he said. 

It's the first time Wayuhi's been out of school while making music. The time he's spent at home so far due to the pandemic has allowed him to learn other aspects of his craft — while getting a bit more creative in the process.

"That's the fun thing about creativity, it's not only about finding solutions, it's about finding problems," he said. "I'm able to get back to what I wanted to express from the jump."