Chris Cornell’s final music video “The Promise” was released posthumously yesterday. The track was recorded for the film The Promise. Eric Estrailian, Cornell’s close friend who brought him onto the project, and music video director Meiert Avis discussed working on the film and video near the end of his life in a new Rolling Stone article.
Despite the heavy subject matter, both Avis and Esrailian say that Cornell’s mood while working on the video was only positive. “He was happy, passionate, engaged and creative,” says Esrailian. “He was focused but excited; not stressed. Just happy.
“I’m a physician and for me, when people are having mood disturbances – unless they’re able to really hide it well – I’m pretty astute to being able to pick up on those things,” he adds, noting the pair spoke almost daily. “Given the amount of time and how close we were, nothing gave me any sense that he would have any kind of sadness in his life. It was quite the opposite. … The song is a promise to persevere, survive and thrive – that’s the song he was out there promoting.”
Avis recalls one memory of shooting during a New York snowstorm earlier this year. “He was just talking about how happy it made him to scrape the snow off his doorstep that morning and to be in New York with his kids doing the normal shit that dads do,” he says.
