Staff Writers
This year, Apex High’s Lip Dub seems to be taking on a tribal, psychedelic theme, with the song “Derek” by Animal Collective. Apex sophomore Meghan Morris explains why they chose the song. “It’s frickin’ awesome. Have you heard it? It’s cool,” she says. Animal Collective is an experimental psychedelic quartet from Baltimore, currently based in Lisbon, Portugal. Lip Dub organizer Erin Morris says, “I think we chose it because the tribal beat-ish thing in the song kind of fit with what we were going for.”
Senior John Santos reveals his part in the video, saying, “I’m going to be the star of the show this year. I’m going to be the main character and I’m going to be wearing a crocheted body suit, but I don’t want to spoil too much.” Santos admits, “I’m excited to finally be a part of the legendary Lip Dub.” Santos is also aiding in the creation of the props and set. “I’m helping out with some of the gluing and painting,” he says.
Lip Dub is run by local news station, Fox 50, and raises much-needed money for the art department. “You know, I really hope the arts department has enough funding to do what they need to do,” says Erin Morris. The Lip Dub winners will be decided based on online votes conducted on the news station’s website. Voters may vote as many times as they would like to.
Lip Dub participants are confident that this year’s video will be a success. “The bar is set pretty high,” says Erin Morris. Another Lip Dub organizer, Caroline Crowley, says, “I think it is going to be great because it is much different than last year’s [Lip Dub]. It’s surprising and has a lot of meaning.” Lip Dub member Calvin Olson says, “I can personally attest that this video is going to be super cool. We’ve put a lot of thought into this and we would like to put just as much work into it. It’s going to be pretty crazy.” Despite their high expectations, Lip Dub participants aren’t letting the competition get the best of them. “I do not want money to cloud my artistic vision,” says choreographer and painter Jason Palermo. Olson disagrees, saying, “We need that cash, man.”
The Lip Dub will start filming on Saturday, March 23, and it’s not too late to join. “100 people have joined our Facebook group and, of those 100, 40 people come to the meetings. An infinite amount of people may join. They can join the Facebook group and come to the meetings and I’ll tell them what to wear,” added Erin Morris.
Crowley says that students could use Lip Dub as a stress reliever. “I think during high school people are way too caught in what college they can get into and how many APs they take. [Everyone] needs to take a minute to breathe.”
Below is a video of this year's Lip Dub song:
