5000 Ways to Love You – Page 40 – Exploring the world of NZ On Air music video funding

Jorge & The Woodcut Crew “2 Can”

This song features vocals from singer Jorge (aka Lee Morunga), with a guest rap from Mase, produced by Juse of the Woodcut Crew. It’s a R&B track, of the “relationship drama” subgenre, and the video is set in the unconventional location of an industrial dystopia, seemingly influenced by the film classic Metropolis.

This isn’t the first time a music video has used a setting like this. Back in 1995, D-Faction used a dramatic industrial setting for their “Down in the Boondocks” video in 1995. And, of course, Madonna’s empowerment dance anthem “Express Yourself” was set in a similar world – only she had semi-naked hot guy workers sweating it out.

The factory workers in the “2 Can” video are a lot more ordinary looking, like actual factory workers, not Herb Ritts models. As they clock in to the job, a sign warns “Do not let Woodcut infect your children with unsanctioned music!” No, the sanctioned audio is messages of productivity and prosperity. I can’t dance to that.

On the factory floor, someone has slipped Jorge some of that illicit Woodcut music, probably in one of those newfangled mp3 players. She secretly listens to it via an earpiece, but she’s spotted by Mase who has her taken away and threatens her with all sorts of alarming looking medical equipment.

The video ends with Jorge in a strange white room, suggesting she’s moved onto a higher state of consciousness, or perhaps she’s off at a dystopian day spa. It all seems rather bleak, but then the song isn’t much of a happy pill either.

It’s a very stylish, very good looking video. I’m going to assume it was not done with a huge budget (“Shot on mini DV using 5 people, some clothing changes and a bunch of beer,” says the director’s website), so it’s very impressive how much ordinary has been turned into spectacular. The video’s director was Dale McCready, who went on to do the cinematography on a bunch of television, including recent two Doctor Who episodes!

Best bit: Mase’s series of mad-scientist crazy faces.

Director: Dale McCready

Next… big smash.

Katchafire “Colour Me Life”

How’s this for a story set-up? A hedgehog is minding its business in the woods. A stoned-as Rastaman drives up in a BMW and throws a guitar case of of his car. The hedgehog investigates the case, crawls inside it and entered a trippy-as rainbow world (i.e. the hedgehog is now also stoned-as). Well, it’s a much better then the hedgehog getting squashed.

This magical rainbow world is animated, with a sandy beach, Rangitoto across the water, some singing palm trees and flowers, as well as a cheerful Rasta snail. Katchafire also appear in the video, superimposed on top of the colourful world, but not actually part of it.

Things are just really nice and chilled out in this rainbow world, in that very Katchafire way. When the song’s sax solo is played, a stream of rainbow-coloured musical notes come floating out of the sax, then Rangitoto erupts with similar rainbow juice.

Eventually the hedgehog returns to reality, where he crawls out of the guitar case, still powered up with the magical rainbow vibes. Along comes another car. This time it looks like Katchafire’s wheels. They pick up the guitar case and head off, no doubt for another magical rainbow experience.

By this stage Katchafire had settled nicely into their sound, becoming a well liked summer festival act. A video like this is pretty goofy, but it feels like an authentic Katchafire experience.

Best bit: the real hedgehog – superb animal acting.

Director: Ivan Slavov
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… overtime is quality time.

Gasoline Cowboy “I Hear You Call My Name”

Gasoline Cowboy originally came from Christchurch and was made from ex members of previous Canterbury bands Slim and Fuce. The video takes inspiration from the band’s name, and casts singer Jolyon Mulholland as a cowboy, wandering the countryside.

Most of the video is sepiatone, giving it that ye olde wild west feel, but Jolyon is shown in black and white, with a fuzzy watercolour-style filter. He looks like he’s escaped from the magical hand-drawn comic world of A-ha’s “Take On Me” video.

I think the idea is that this is some sort of robot or hologram cowboy. Because after things going in a very ordinary direction (man rides horse), suddenly they get a bit sci-fi. He stops the horse at a petrol station and fills up the horse with quality Europa fuel. But then this raises the question – if the horse runs on gasoline, what’s all the hay doing in the barn? And what happens if you accidentally give the horse unleaded petrol? Will it run wild? This point should actually be covered.

The video feels like someone’s come up with the “Gasoline Cowboy = petrol-powered horse” gag and constructed the entire video around it with nothing much else in the video either side of the gag. So it ends up feeling quite slow and empty.

Best bit: the horse’s elegant side-on pose for the camera.

Director: Richard Bell

Next… colour me prickly.

Concord Dawn “Don’t Tell Me”

This is an angry dude anthem. On the main refrain, Tiki Taane snarls, “Don’t tell me what to do! Don’t tell me what to play! I got my own idea and I don’t give a care!” Which makes it seem like he is incapable of saying no, that if someone tells him to do something he doesn’t want to do, he feels compelled to do it anyway. Dude, this is all you need to do. Just say in a really whiny voice, “Oh, I’m gonna have to pass this time. I’ve had a rough week and I need rest. And I have a headache. I’m just gonna have a bath and go to bed.”

“Don’t Tell Me” takes the angry vocals of Tiki and combines it with the angry music of Concord Dawn, and I can imagine this song being popular with 15-year-old boys whose mum has just reminded them again that the lawn still needs mowing.

The action begins in a stark old warehouse. A guy in a white top pulls himself up off the ground and starts sprinting through the warehouse, shot in slow-motion with an bleak blue-grey colour palette. He’s soon joined by two others wearing black. They seem to be in a race, with the coveted leading position being most important at all times.

We then meet Tiki, standing in the same warehouse, being angry by himself. He’s also joined by Concord Dawn, with the three of them standing around while they’re covered with mysterious indoor rain.

I feel like I can’t fully embrace the world of “Don’t Tell Me” because I’m waaay outside the target audience, but eventually the white shirt guy wins the race and Tiki is smiling as he performs, so maybe things aren’t all that bad in angry dude land.

Best bit: the indoor rain – where does it come from?

Director: Andrew Morton
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… fill ‘er up.

Betchadupa “Move Over”

“Move Over” was the first single from Betchadupa’s second and final album “Aiming for Your Head”. It reached #14 in the New Zealand charts and it has the sound of a band becoming even better at songcraft and performance. It has bit of a Pixies loud-quiet thing, and some classic Finn melody, as well as generally awesome pop stylings.

The video is shot in black and white, and is based around the band performing the song in a grungy old room. But not everything is as it seems.

The room appears to be all walls and no floor or ceiling. There’s Liam’s standing against a wall, next to a window… except he’s actually lying on the floor, with a bandmate stepping over him. Whoa.

But the weird room and crazy gravity situation isn’t played for laughs, like the upside-down antics of Goodshirt’s “Green” video. It’s more used to create a sense of unease, that something isn’t quite right with the world.

The video is directed by Greg Page, and it’s another example of his ability to capture the live energy of a band. Here’s Betchadupa going crazy with their performance – and maybe they’re rocking out so hard it’s making the room spin. Awesome.

Best bit: the drummer’s horizontal drumming, neatly keeping his hair out of his face.

Director: Greg Page
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the anger games.

Baitercell & Schumacher “What’s Down Low”

According to the duo’s bio on Amplifier, “What’s Down Low” was “the #2 most played track on NZ Alt Radio for 2004”. Well, that’s something.

This “cult breaks track” (says the YouTube description) features guest vocals from Miss Bex Bexasty, but the video features neither Bailtercell, Schumacher or Bexasty.

Instead it features footage of urban scenes, both indoors and outdoors, with the images sliced into smaller boxes on screen. It’s like that trend for 1960s-style overlapping boxes, but stripped of its humanness and given a cold, hard computer personality.

“Show me hell,” the lyrics implore. And we’re shown a deserted road straddled by big power pylons, shot in black and white footage that’s more a depressing grey than sharp black and white.

Then things get micro with a close up of some fat raindrops, and we see them falling down onto the city streets, filmed like falling bomb rather than delicate droplets. It’s obvious that a lot of stuff in the video is computer generated. But is all of it? It’s hard to tell, with the low-ish res version on YouTube and the greyness of the footage. But I like that – an uncanny valley city.

Best bit: the star-shape formed by the upwards camera angle through the city buildings.

Next… off the wall.

Augustino “Going Downtown”

It’s another Augustino song that’s an ode to the high life. “I’m going downtown! I wanna get high,” sneers Sean on the chorus. But being a music video, there’s no graphic depiction of drugs. Instead the video opens with series of empty shot glasses, with the drinkers signalling for more. They never feature again in the video. Oh, so with all those unfilled glasses, maybe the band is just high on life.

“Going Downtown” is bright, energetic rock song with never a quiet moment. The video goes with this, depicting the band performing outside in Auckland at night, with the illuminated shaft of Sky Tower popping up in the distance. It’s all looking very sexy, with great lighting. The camera work does much to capture the energy of the song. It runs around the band as they’re playing, with good rock video editing getting the rhythm.

Sean is a fantastic frontman and works the camera with his great rock swagger. In fact, The rest of the band are looking cool, but there’s also a vibe like a bunch of guys who work in advertising who’ve decided to form a band. There’s a lot of coolness, but it always seems to feel like it’s being done because that’s what you’re supposed to do in a rock video.

Best bit: the “I wanna get high” sweep up the Sky Tower.

Director: Ivan Slavov

Next… chubby rain.

Strawpeople featuring Pearl Runga “No One Like You”

Strawpeople return with the first single off their last album, Count Backwards From 10. This time the song’s vocals are provided by Pearl Runga, whose sister already did guest vocals back in 1999.

Like a lot of Strawpeople videos, this one doesn’t show the musical artists involved. Instead the video features an audition, but being a Strawpeople video, it’s unusual and stylish. It’s directed by Joe Lonie, moving well away from the visual larks of his earlier work.

A number of young model/actresses are each standing in front of a camera. Their first task – to write their name on a piece of cardboard and hold it up to the camera. So, hello to Jessica, Nicola, Andrea, Amelia, Rachael, Jennifer and Polly. As they stand in front of the camera, they lip-sync the song lyrics. (It’s funny to hear the old technology used to illustrate a busy life – “I’ve got my radio on but it don’t drown the fax machine.”)

Next, they appear to have been asked to remove their clothes, stripping down to just their underwear – and they’re all wearing strapless bras. They all look a bit annoyed. Yeah, someone’s agent is getting a phone call.

The strange audition continues, with the women all required to put on a strapless crimson dress, put their hair up in a bun, secured with chopsticks (or if they’re blonde, wear a dark wig in that style), wear some pearl earrings and particular eye makeup.

Even though they’re all identically dressed, they’re still not clones. The individual personalities of the auditionees stand out. Some are smily, some serious, some flirty, some bored looking. Finally, they all hold up their name signs again. Who to pick? They’re all so different. Oh, let’s just use them all.

Best bit: the rhythmic application of makeup.

Director: Joe Lonie
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… London boy.

Scribe “Stand Up”

So here it is, the New Zealand single to spend the most number of weeks at number one, spending a total of 12 weeks in the top spot – equalled only by Freddy Fender’s lament “Wasted Days and Wasted Night” in 1975 and bettered only by Boney M’s permanently amazing biblical groove “Rivers of Babylon”, which managed 14 weeks in 1978.

I remember at the time “Stand Up” came out, someone saying something like, “This is an important moment for New Zealand hip hop, but it’s going to be even better when this song seems really naff.” That is, it’ll be better when the New Zealand world of hip hop is so strong, it doesn’t need a motivational song praising it.

Are we there yet? Well, in 2003, the overall year-end singles chart had five hip hop singles from New Zealand artists, 2004 had six, but the 2013 chart doesn’t have any. It’s not until you drill down to to the New Zealand artists chart that “Runnin'” by David Dallas shows up. Hip hop is still around, but it’s not the pop superpower it was a decade ago.

The “Stand Up” adventure starts with Scribe and P-Money in a car, teasingly soundtracked by the intro of his next single “Not Many”. The pair get out and run towards a door and – bam! – they’re in a secret underground party, attended by their friends, fans and other New Zealand hip hop players.

Scribe is surrounded by the other artists he name-drops – the D4, Blindspott, Nesian Mystik, Deceptikonz – and there’s a certain awkwardness when everyone in the video feels compelled to pull a cooldude face when the camera is near them. But full credit to director Chris Gregory for getting great levels of energy in the crowd. This doesn’t look like a bunch of people roped into making a music video – they all want to be they’re and they’re having a great time partying.

In 2003, the video was great and inspiring. If Scribe could manage this with his first solo video, there could only be great things to come, right? It turned out the future was more complicated than that. Sometimes hip hop is in fashion, other times it’s the turn for minimalist electro teen pop.

The “Stand Up” ends with a preview of the next single, “Not Many”. It introduces the listener to the very sticky chorus that would soon be repeated all around New Zealand, leaving viewers wanting so much more.

Note: Hip hop label Grindin has a track-by-track look at the making of Scribe’s Crusader album, including a lot of info about the “Stand Up” video. From this we learn that much of the people in the video are audience members from a De La Soul concert that Scribe opened for earlier that evening.

Best bit: P-Money’s deft hat flip to obscure his mouth saying the F-word.

Director: Chris Graham
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… a screen test.

PanAm “Song1”

It’s night time and Paul from Panam shows up late for his shift behind the counter at a petrol station. I feel great tension every time I see him in this video because his hair in this video is how my hair goes on a bad day. I want to give him a good blowdry.

It’s an old-style petrol station (filmed “in Christchurch in the middle of winter at night in a draughty old gas station,” Paul told Songlines Across New Zealand). It’s the kind of place that was primarily an automotive workshop with just a little shop selling a few chocolate bars and chips, secondary to the oil, fanbelts and other essentials. It’s also the kind of petrol station that isn’t really around these days, and indeed it seems that the location in question is now occupied by a budget car rental company.

Business is slow and there’s nothing for Paul to do but slouch around the till. If it were me, I would alphabetise the chips – cheese and onion, chicken, ready salted, salt and vinegar. There.

But relief comes in the form of a customer, an old geezer rolling up in a Mercedes. Paul fills up the car. Petrol is only $1.049 a litre, and the 91 is 99c. Remember that fact, kids. Those were golden days.

The customer tended to, Paul goes back inside and keeps singing “I don’t care anymore”. Even a dwarf customer isn’t enough to break his boredom, so he goes out the back and jams on his keyboard, using headphones.

A shifty looking young man (who I think I recognise from my olden Hamilton act0rizing days) comes in the shop and buys some chewing gum. He’s either wanting to break a big note or he’s casing the joint.

Paul returns to his back-room jamming, and the shifty dude returns and steals several boxes of Cadbury chocolate bars. He runs out and there’s the geezer in the Mercedes waiting. What kind of arrangement is this? Rich older man picks up a young street youth, gets him to steal chocolate bars and they go back to the geezer’s mansion and spend all night eating Pinkys and Crunchies until they crash out in a sugar coma, holding each other as they sleep?

And then the video expects us to happily go back to Paul moping around the petrol station. No, I want to know what the odd-couple crims are up to.

Note: In 2012, PanAm released a revved up new recording of the song.

Best bit: the physical comedy of the thief dumping the haul of choccies in the back seat of the Merc.

Director: Richard Bell
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… you, me and everyone we know.