LOTS OF LOVE. Eau Claire native Pat Keen recently released the music video for his latest single, "Love & Drugs," produced by Feels Like 95. (Submitted photos)

Eau Claire’s identity as a creative hub is encapsulated in Pat Keen’s new music video for his latest single, “Love & Drugs.” which was originally released in July 2022. The video was produced by Feels Like 95 – a Minneapolis-based film production company founded by Mack Hastings (an Eau Claire native) and Shane Sleger – and was shot right here in E.C.

The video follows Keen as he auditions to be the entertainer for a company event being held by a pharmaceutical company in Wisconsin. The video was shot at the Best Western in Eau Claire and depicts strange yet hilarious sequences including the “audition,” psychedelic shots of the company party, and a dance sequence in the pool that’ll give you a laugh, among other things.

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Eau Claire‘s naturally like a breeding zone of creativity, 

and once you’re kind of in that scene you end up knowing a lot of the people.

pat keen

musician and eau claire native

There are many locals featured in the video who you may recognize, because Keen and Hastings sent out an open call to some creatives in the area community for help. Faces like Chris Johnson (owner of Passion Board Shop), Graham McCullough (musician also known as Mounder), Josh Ingersoll (local musician), Bri Vodvarka (owner of Black Kettle Tea & Bootique), Denise-Alondra Bustamante (local theater enthusiast), and many more. The video was also choreographed by Eau Claire native Hannah Hebl, a musician and dancer known professionally as Hemma.

“I think including community members kind of just kind of happened,” Keen said. “I mean, Eau Claire’s naturally like a breeding zone of creativity, and once you’re kind of in that scene you end up knowing a lot of the people.”

Hastings and Keen became friends while attending Memorial High School together and have kept in touch since. Hastings brought the idea to work together on a music video for his single, and it ended up being shot last December. (The song itself was first released in July 2022.)

“It was just really cool,” Keen said. "It was cool to hang with people I grew up with and now we’re all doing art and making it happen together and having a great time doing it. It was an awesome privilege to have that.”

You can view the music video for Love & Drugs on YouTube. Learn more about Pat Keen at patkeenmusic.com and Feels Like 95 at feelslike95.com.