Rock band's videos showcase Duluth landmarks

Man with open button-down shirt stands holding electric guitar and pint glass, looking wildly at viewer. Behind, drummer is seen at kit. — Indecent Proposal drummer Jevin Joki, left, and vocalist/guitarist Josh Brown perform at Bent Paddle Brewing in Duluth.

By Jay Gabler

December 31, 2024 at 7:00 AM

DULUTH — Adrian Lyne directed a 1993 film about a man (played by Robert Redford) who offers a married couple (Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson) a million dollars for the opportunity to spend a night with the wife.

You may have seen "Indecent Proposal." Josh Brown has not.

"I had never heard of the movie," said Brown about picking the name of the Duluth rock band that he fronts. "I don't know anything about that. I thought the term sounded cool, and now here I am looking at a $600,000 domain name."

"We come to the music scene with this proposal to be 'indecent,'" explained Terry Beckman, the band's bassist. "Be yourself, be raw, be authentic and be unapologetic."

Founded in 2022, the band has been active on a range of Twin Ports stages. Indecent Proposal may be best known, though, for ambitious music videos filmed at Duluth landmarks.

Man sits on stone wall holding electric bass guitar, wearing hat and purple necktie. At right, another man stands shirtless, holding wine glass. — Indecent Proposal's Terry Beckman, left, and Josh Brown while filming the band's "Glow" music video at Enger Tower in Duluth.

"Let's do something different. Let's do something that really turns people's heads," said Beckman, describing the band's thought process. "What better way to do it than to utilize Duluth's local monuments?"

"They really work hard to be able to fund these projects," said Henriette Blade, a Duluth filmmaker who has worked with the band on multiple videos. "They also, at the same time, don't take everything so seriously. We have fun with it any time we're on set."

The band's first music video was a relatively straightforward performance clip for the song "Feeling Good," featuring Spirit Valley's Gopher Bar. "It gave us a taste," said Beckman, leaving the band wanting "to basically build something even bigger and better on the next one."

That was "Late in the Morning," the first song the band wrote together. "Lyrically, it kind of comes from a personal story of my own about how my wife and I got together," explained Beckman.

The video follows a couple, played by Blade and Stuart Gordon, who make their way through Duluth separately — including visits to Park Point and the DeWitt Seitz Marketplace — before finally connecting in front of the band as Indecent Proposal performs at Spurs on First and atop the DECC parking ramp.

"It was just great vibes all around," said Blade, praising director Manny Villanueva. "We shot all over town."

"Manny is the director of all the music videos except for the last one ('Glow') that just came out," said Beckman. "We're open to ideas from anyone, whether it be part of the band or the production crew, and a lot of those ideas we have implemented on the spot."

Rock band performs onstage at large auditorium, as a shadowed figure watches from foreground. — Indecent Proposal performs at the Denfeld High School auditorium as actor Aubree Lee watches, in the music video for "Behind Her Eyes."

"It's not really just about us," said lead guitarist Jason Soderlund. "It's really about the local talent — the directors, the filmographers, the actors and so on."

As the band gained traction, they earned some influential fans. One of them was John Magas, superintendent of Duluth Public Schools. Magas asked Indecent Proposal to play a Unity in the Community event at Bayfront Festival Park in 2023.

In exchange, the band asked if Magas could arrange for Indecent Proposal to access Denfeld's auditorium to film the "Behind Her Eyes" music video.

"He said, 'Consider it done,'" remembered Beckman, a member of Denfeld's class of 2008. "He cleared all the red tape."

The two-day production, with actor Aubree Lee in a featured role, attracted attention from current Hunters. "We had kids sneaking into the auditorium to watch us shoot the video," said Beckman. "We had that whole auditorium lit up beautifully."

The next two music videos, filmed back-to-back during chilly spring weather, took the band to the Duluth Armory and the William A. Irvin.

Rock band performs on stage in with brick backdrop. Panels are missing from front of stage, and two sinks are positioned on floor. — Indecent Proposal plays onstage at the Duluth Armory in the music video for "Albright."

"I'm the biggest Bob Dylan fan, so I was definitely thinking about that," said Beckman regarding the Armory, where a teenage Dylan had a formative experience watching Buddy Holly perform in 1959.

"I was thinking about Louis Armstrong," said Soderlund. "There's so many people that played that place."

"I was thinking I was cold," said Brown, who appeared open-shirted in the "Albright" video.

Then it was into the Irvin for "The Cage," with actors Gordon, Kelly Killorin and Danielle Thralow playing people struggling with personal demons. In an alternate version of the video, Killorin makes her way through the Irvin's cargo hold in a single take of interpretive dance.

"We prefer the cargo hold rather than the top of the ship," joked Beckman in reference to last summer's Music on the Ship series, which did not feature Indecent Proposal.

The band ended up far higher for "Glow," with an Enger Tower location facilitated by another influential listener: Mayor Roger Reinert.

"He's just a huge fan," said Beckman, who serves as the group's manager. "He approached me and he said, 'Hey, I want to help you guys do anything with your next video.'"

Bassist, guitarist, and a man with no instrument sit in windows of a brightly lit stone tower against a dark sky. — Members of Indecent Proposal perform at Enger Tower in the music video for "Glow."

Having official approval proved necessary. "We had the cops called on us within 10 to 15 minutes," remembered Beckman.

"Concerned citizens wanting to save the day," explained Brown, dryly.

"That was pretty funny," remembered Blade. "I talked to the police, and they're like, 'Yep, yeah, we see you have a permit, so you're good.'"

Brown said the lavish video, featuring actor Rylee Kuberra and also filmed at Chester Creek Books, even saw some snowfall.

"I'm sitting up at the top of the tower, drones flying around, snow wafting around," remembered Brown. "Everyone's down there being like, no, no, it's bugs. It's just bugs. I'm like, 1,000 bugs aren't all going east right now."

The videos showcase Duluth, but they're also the band's calling card to a wider audience.

"When you're first going around and doing open mics and gigging, I think Duluth is probably one of the best cities you could be in for that, because there are so many places to play," said Brown, who has been active on the local scene for a decade. "Once you want to start building a brand, your only option is to do what we're doing, which is nobody take a salary, and then you market to other areas."

That's just a matter of math, explained Brown, in a city of under 90,000. "If we want to make a sustainable career, I don't want to be just sucking money out of my neighbors for my whole life."

Four men sit for a studio portrait, wearing eclectic but casual clothing. Man at right rear wears brimmed hat and holds pair of drumsticks. — Indecent Proposal members Jason Soderlund, clockwise from front left, Terry Beckman, Jevin Joki and Josh Brown.

The band has been gaining wider traction, and the videos have helped; "Behind Her Eyes" alone has nearly 200,000 views on YouTube. "All of our songs have hundreds of plays on the radio in Ohio," observed Beckman. "Why? I don't know."

For their next video, how can the band top Enger Tower? "The Aerial Lift Bridge," said drummer Jevin Joki. "I don't even know how hard that would be."

"It's the brass ring of music videos," agreed Soderlund.

"The Aerial Lift Bridge is involved in a lot of global trade, and so Roger Reinert doesn't necessarily hold the key to that one," noted Beckman. "But who knows? A lot of people would have never thought that we could have shot a video in any of the places that we shot."

By Jay Gabler

Arts and entertainment reporter Jay Gabler joined the Duluth News Tribune in 2022. His previous experience includes eight years as a digital producer at The Current (Minnesota Public Radio), four years as theater critic at Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages, and six years as arts editor at the Twin Cities Daily Planet. He's a co-founder of pop culture and creative writing blog The Tangential; he's also a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the Minnesota Film Critics Association. You can reach him at jgabler@duluthnews.com or 218-409-7529.