Alberta animator illustrates music video for Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong

A bar manager turned graphic designer was tapped in to provide his animation talents to one of the biggest names in punk rock.

Kaleb Kaiser, 31, started his career in graphic design by making posters for bands that were playing his bar. This grew to getting projects all around Edmonton and Calgary as well.

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This caught the attention of a writer in British Columbia who was working on a pitch for a cartoon series for Netflix. Many of the illustrations Kaiser made for the pitch were posted on social media where they caught the attention of Miguel Chen, the bassist for the band Teenage Bottlerocket.

"I remember the writer being like, 'Hey, man, you got a message from Miguel Chen of Teenage Bottlerocket,'" Kaiser said. "He asked if I wanted to animate a music video…and I said, 'Yes, of course.'"

Kaiser said spending 14 to 16 hours a day drawing more than 2,000 illustrations for a music video didn't bother him as he's been a fan of the band since highschool.

This animation led to more work from bands all over the world asking for the same treatment for their music videos. After some time, a high-profile music manager in New York contacted Kaiser inquiring about a music video project with another prolific musician.

"He tells me who this video is for and he says Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day…he's covering a song for Jesse Malin."

According to Kaiser, Jesse Malin, lead singer for Heart Attack and D Generation, had a rare spinal stroke which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Musician friends of Malin's, including Armstrong, were getting together to sing his songs for a tribute cover album to raise money for charity.

"I was tasked with making 34 seconds of animation to supplement the viewer's experience," said Kaiser. "So far, it's sort of the most important thing that's ever happened to me because of the path that that initial music video set me on."

So how does Kaiser get tapped in to provide content for Billie Joe Armstrong? From his favourite band, Teenage Bottlerocket.

According to Ray Carlisle, lead singer and bassist of Teenage Bottlerocket, he was approached by a colleague asking if he knew anyone who animates videos and Kaleb's name came up due to his previous work for the band.

Carlisle told CTV News Edmonton that helping a friend is very meaningful and knew Kaiser would be able to get the job done.

"No one changed the world by putting somebody down," said Carlisle. "I feel anytime I have the opportunity to contribute back in any sort of fashion like that, I'm glad to take the opportunity."

"Behind the scenes before I started these big projects, my family and friends know that I am just an anxiety-ridden mess," said Kaiser. "You work as hard as you can, you give it your all to the best of your ability and hope it works out and pays off."

You can check out Kaiser's work on his Instagram account or see his work on the music video cover for Black Haired Girl by Billie Joe Armstrong.