A sun-soaked Malibu estate serves as the setting for a local rapper’s debut music video.
Tie Bond, who lives in Oro-Medonte, released the video for Palm Trees on Sept. 13.
The video shows the 21-year-old living it up at the Picasso of Malibu in California.
“I couldn’t have asked for it to be any better,” he said of the video, directed by Chris Cordova. “All the dedication and work I put in over the past six years have been put into this video.”
He rented the estate for half a day to shoot the video, and he admitted he was “nervous at first,” meeting the crew and Mia Mormino, the singer-songwriter and model who starred in the video with him.
“When we started filming, the nerves went away,” Bond said.
Bond has always had an interest in music, but rap wasn’t the plan at the beginning. He enjoyed singing and playing guitar, but, while he was a student at Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School in Orillia, he realized, “that’s not what I wanted to do, so I started rapping in high school.”
The same people who followed and supported him during that time are now in awe of how far Bond has come, especially after they see the video for Palm Trees.
“They love it,” he said. “It’s crazy for them to see the progression over the years.”
There’s no rhyme or reason to Bond’s approach to writing. It happens organically and, often, randomly.
“Sometimes I have an idea (for lyrics) or the beat itself gives me an idea and I start writing. I let the beat talk to me and then I answer it,” said Bond, who has drawn inspiration over the years from Our Lady Peace — a concert he attended with his dad is what got him interested in playing music — as well as rappers Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller.
He’s grateful for the support he has received so far on his journey.
“I just want to thank everybody for watching,” he said. “If you have a dream, follow it. Do what you love.”
Bond is in talks to shoot a second video and he plans to release another single by the end of the year, followed by an album in 2020.
In the meantime, fans can follow along on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.
