Skip to content

Thanks, Shmed

2025-01-31 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:02 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects (also: Personal life) · mode: Personal update · tags: heavy topic, civic or action cta

Hank pays tribute to Shmed, the Montana producer and multi-instrumentalist who recorded all three of his studio albums and died this week, asks viewers to thank someone today, and shares playlists of Shmed's band Secret Powers.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Hank's music career: three studio albums recorded with Shmed in his Montana backyard studio, Incongruent with guest musicians

  • ★★ Hank recalls being a guy who wrote and performed silly nerdy rock songs; all three of his studio albums were recorded in the same studio with the same producer, Shmed (also Shmedly or Ryan). — 00:00:03
  • ★★ Hank says his first two albums were just him and Shmed: Hank played guitar and sang, and everything else was Shmed. — 00:00:21
  • ★★ Hank recalls that for his last album, Incongruent, Paul and Joe DeGeorge, Rob Scallon and Andrew Huang came out to record with Shmed, who added many tracks and weird ideas. — 00:00:29 · Incongruent
  • ★★ Hank says he had no idea how lucky he was that Shmed lived in his small Montana town, with a backyard studio that came with a producer and multi-instrumentalist session musician. — 00:00:45 · Montana

00:01:00 — Shmed's range as producer and session musician, his studio's odd instruments, his TV music and his band Secret Powers

  • ★★ Hank says Shmed had experience in many genres and would play whatever was wanted, from a polka with live accordion to an off-kilter piano break, classic rock, punk or ska. — 00:01:00
  • ★★ Hank says Shmed taught him to sing harmony, auto-tuned and spliced his vocals, and helped him play drums on tracks, quantizing them so they landed on the beat. — 00:01:20
  • ★ Hank says Shmed's studio was full of odd collected things, such as the timpani heard on The Universe Is Weird. — 00:01:29
  • ★★ Hank says Shmed had his own career, making music for TV shows including 3rd Rock from the Sun and That '70s Show. — 00:01:35
  • ★★ Hank feels Shmed's band Secret Powers was always inches away from a cool, weird cult following. — 00:01:45
  • ★★★ Hank says he learned a great deal from Shmed and that working with him is among the coolest experiences of his life. — 00:01:50

00:01:58 — Shmed died this week; Hank can't thank him and asks viewers to thank someone today

  • ★★ Hank thinks Shmed was quite proud of the silly, stupid things they made together. (hedged) — 00:01:58
  • ★ Hank says both he and Shmed were huge Weird Al fans, and working together felt like doing a little Weird Al stuff. — 00:02:02
  • ★★★ Hank says he is making the video because Shmed died this week (week of 27 January 2025); he wants to thank him but can't. — 00:02:08
  • ★★★ Saying it is dumb that he cannot thank Shmed, and that "it's not forever", Hank asks viewers to think of somebody today and thank them. — 00:02:15
  • ★★ Hank says anyone who has heard a Hank Green song that is more than him and a guitar has heard Shmed's work. — 00:02:20

00:02:27 — The I Know piano solo; Secret Powers playlists and the ask to share a favourite song; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank remembers Shmed working out the piano solo for I Know in front of him in about 90 seconds; it felt like a magic trick. — 00:02:27
  • ★★ Hank has made YouTube and Spotify playlists of Secret Powers, linked in the description, and asks viewers to spend half an hour listening and maybe find a favourite song. — 00:02:33 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank asks viewers to tell him their favourite Secret Powers song, which would feel like a celebration of Shmed, a weird amazing guy. — 00:02:45

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Shmed

Also: People: Andrew Huang · Joe DeGeorge · Paul DeGeorge · Rob Scallon · Weird Al Yankovic

Works: I Know · Incongruent · The Universe is Weird

Organizations: Spotify · YouTube

Groups: Secret Powers

Concepts: Cult following · gratitude

Places: Montana

Only in the description or credits: 3rd Rock from the Sun · That '70s Show

← Previous: This Is Not Normal · Next → What Trump's Doing