Onelinedrawing - ＂Smile＂ (music video)

APR 14 2004 · 12:00

Onelinedrawing - ＂Smile＂ (music video) (2004) Era: Post-Hardcore Emo Acoustic Wave (2002–2004) - Peak of the indie emo solo-artist boom; lo-fi bedroom recordings given label platforms via Jade Tree; intimate DIY video aesthetics aligned with the confessional singer-songwriter movement displacing polished alt-rock. High curatorial value as a rare surviving visual artifact from the early-2000s Jade Tree Records emo underground, a scene whose lo-fi video output is chronically underrepresented in music video archives. Onelinedrawing occupies a historically significant position as a progenitor of the acoustic emo solo-artist form. The video's warm, intimate aesthetic is itself a primary document of the movement's anti-spectacle ethos and deserves preservation alongside the music it accompanies. Context: Released in 2004 on Jade Tree Records, 'Smile' by Onelinedrawing (Jonah Matranga) sits at the nexus of the post-hardcore acoustic solo movement that emerged after Far's breakup in 1998. Matranga was among the earliest lead singers of hardcore-adjacent bands to launch a solo project under a pseudonym, predating the mainstream emo-acoustic wave represented by Dashboard Confessional. Jade Tree's roster, including The Promise Ring, Texas is the Reason, and others, placed Onelinedrawing within a prestigious indie underground lineage. The music video's low-budget, intimate aesthetic directly mirrors the project's anti-commercial ethos; Matranga was vocal about rejecting music industry commodification of emo as a 'brand,' aligning the video's DIY production with its cultural positioning as an authentic, unmediated artistic statement. Director notes: The track 'Smile' appears on the album Visitor, released May 14, 2004 on Jade Tree Records (catalog JT1076). All songs on Visitor were written by Jonah Rzadzinski Matranga and recorded in early 2002 in San Francisco. The onelinedrawing project was known for its intimate, homemade production ethos; Matranga performed with only his guitar and his tape-deck nicknamed 'R2D2'. No production company, cinematographer, or director credit has been located for this specific music video in any publicly accessible archive. The YouTube file ID is 4o3F1JNMEQo.