Billy Morrison Recruits Joe Manganiello For 'It's Come To This' Video

05-22-2024

(SRO) Billy Morrison has shared the cinematic video for "It's Come To This." In the video, directed by Ivo Raza (who did the same honors for the "Crack Cocaine"), Billy is joined by acclaimed actor Joe Manganiello whose character is a mysterious "collector of souls," says Billy.

"It's Come To This" is the latest single from his third solo album (and first since 2015) The Morrison Project, which was produced by BILLY, mixed by Barry Pointer, and mastered by Dave Donnelly. All the songs on the album-recorded in Los Angeles at various studios-were written By Billy in collaboration with his guests.

In the Q&A below, Billy talks about the song's origins (during the strange early days of the pandemic), the role of Joe Manganiello ("Joe just makes an imposing and scary figure on film"), and the use of a classic car ("the Shelby Mustang was loaned to me by Galpin Auto Sports").

The album's lead single "Crack Cocaine"-featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Steve Stevens and co-written by all three artists-has vaulted this week into the nation's top 10 rock Mediabase chart at #8.

What was your inspiration for writing the song? Did it have something to do with your feelings about the world around you when the Covid pandemic hit?

The pandemic was way longer than anyone expected. The political climate was volatile. There were huge financial issues being reported every day. I just found myself thinking "has it really come to this?" And fantasizing about getting in my car, leaving it all behind and heading out into the deep desert in search of a more fulfilling and perhaps spiritual answer for myself.

Can you tell us why the video was shot in the desert?

Well, most of the reason we shot in the desert is outlined above! But also, I am a huge fan of road movies like Vanishing Point, and as we honed the concept in, and Galpin Ford gave me the Shelby Mustang to use, it seemed natural that we could achieve all the elements we were talking about if we took the whole thing out into the middle of nowhere!

Actor Joe Manganiello has a role in the video. Can you fill us in on why you asked him to appear and what you needed him to portray?

So in the spirit of how this whole album came together, I wanted Joe to have an input into what was behind his character. I knew I wanted to interact with some weird, unknown origin desert dweller. He came up with the idea that he is a collector of souls. And that I was making a deal with him to deliver one particular soul in exchange for the return of mine! So that's the box that I dig up before I had to his strange desert shack! Joe just makes an imposing and scary figure on film, so he was the first and only choice to make that cameo!

You're seen in a classic car driving through the desert. Tell us about that experience and what you wanted to convey in those scenes.

The Shelby Mustang was loaned to me by Galpin Auto Sports, with whom I have a wonderful relationship. Thanks to Dave Shuten and Beau Boeckmann, they sent the car out to our location, and I got to drive it all day, wheel spin it around the dirt, and generally get to live out my automobile fantasy!! I guess what I am conveying is the long drive into nowhere to escape the realities of that current global situation at the time.