Suddenly Dam Native came along and insisted that the rules be rewritten, promising “none of that stuff that sounds American or the cliche of the typical Maori rock band.” Except there was a little bit of both, but not in a bad way.
The video for “The Horrified One” (or “Horified”, as it is sometimes punfully spelt) The video travels across Auckland, showing cityscapes, railway lines, a cruise down Queen Street at night, graffiti-covered walls, and cool inner city digs. There is a bit of cherry-picking going on – going to the parts of Auckland that look cool and urban – but it is undeniably Auckland.
Teremoana shows up to sing on the chorus, and her appearance in the video firmly dates it in the mid ’90s – dressed in tough-girl streetwear, with hair is styled in multiple Bjork mini buns. And that’s the influence of a 1993 music video on one from 1995. I now expect to see a video filmed on the back of a truck.
It’s a low-budget video, but one with a strong idea behind it. Dam Native give really good performances, looking like, yeah, they often rap in the car, by the railway lines, around the house.
Best bit: the F-word hiding in some background graffiti
Directors: Rongotai Lomas, Tracey Tawhiao
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… a comeback special
And the dungarees! Aren’t they due a comeback?
Love this video, it suddenly seems much more grown up and professional compared to earlier offerings.
Yeah, isn’t it cool how even low-budget videos start feeling quite pro? I think that’s down to the new world of digital editing (though many were still done on tape), as well as local directors getting experienced from directing lots of videos.
Thanks Robyn for the cool article. Um… we’d love a link to our site if possible (www.damnative.com). Cheers!
Oh and I forgot to mention, Dam Native live band is playing this Friday at Khuja, and at Kings Arms on the 17th: http://www.damnative.com/n8v/khuja-kings-arms-true-talent-promotions
Hey Tom! It’s great to hear from you. I’ve added a link above to the Dam Native website.
If you look closely, you can see us shooting the Ermhen video in the back ground and if you look closely in Ermhen’s Walls Of Steel video, you can see Rongotai shooting this video for DN. Rongotai had taken a space in the Lister Building near Kaiun and we co-ordinated to shoot both videos on the same day. This kind of thing also occurs in some other videos as well re: Phil Fuemana and Herman.
And no, Andrew B White was not involved in either of these two videos either.
That is an amazing fact! Do you know if the Walls of Steel video is available online? I haven’t been able to find it so far.
This is one of my favourite New Zealand music videos! For those immersed in the culture during those years it captures the aesthetics of the time period so well… The locations in that video are dull and grey today and it’s great that they were captured on film.