Shibby Pictures’ Jak Kerlay Releases “I Didn’t Get Much Sleep Last Night” Memoir

Shibby Pictures founder Jak Kerley today shares his memoir of life on the road showcasing his music videos and documentaries that have become staples of the DIY punk world. This lovingly raw account sweeps across the globe through punk houses and squats, to parking lots and cultural centers, from South Carolina basements, hidden caves on the Great Plains, New Zealand wine cellars, the Swiss alps and beyond. Each chapter is punctuated with contributions from many of the colorful, quirky, and batshit crazy characters that fill its pages. Christoph Jesus of Crazy & The Brains details his first time in Europe with Kerley, April Hartman from Apes Of The State explores her love/hate relationship with DIY touring, Jeffrey Lewis on his first time seeing a Shibby Pictures screening and the working relationship that followed. These stories, alongside input from show hosts and other scene instigators, paint a picture of a thriving creative scene that forges a home for outsiders, experimentalists and those who value artistic freedom at all costs.

Kerley’s work first came to prominence in 2014 with his video for Misanthropic Drunken Loner by Texan folk punks Days N Daze. Shortly afterwards, armed with a laptop, projector, bedsheet and thumbtacks, he embarked on his first DIY tour with friend and musician Josh Taft. To this date that initial Days N Daze video is closing on 7.5 million views and remains a staple of many a Shibby Pictures screening. In the years since then he has collaborated on visuals for a host of artists that embrace punk and indie values in some of their broadest forms; from the melody-driven sounds of Grumpster, to the anti-folk of Jeffrey Lewis and Matt Pless, the punk-infused rock of Crazy & The Brains and Frank Turner, the psychedelic hip-hop of Hulk Homeless or the emo of Walter Etc.

While Shibby Pictures has built its reputation on short-form music videos, Didn’t Get Much Sleep Last Night is not Kerley’s first creative foray outside of this remit. 2014’s Trying It At Home was a 45 minute exploration of the DIY scene and the people that are drawn to participate within it. 2018’s Baseball Punx was a short documentary that examined the overlap between baseball and punk culture. Most recently came 2020’s Good Ol’ Punks, a six-part comedy web series that served up an affectionate caricature of the daily trials and tribulations that punks face.

Shibby Pictures is hosting a special release party show tonight, November 17th, at The Ukie Club in Philadelphia. The bill features Apes Of The State, Whitney Flynn (Days N Daze), Matt Pless and Elephant Jake. Didn’t Get Much Sleep Last Night is available to order directly from Shibby Pictures.