NZ On Screen – Page 11 – 5000 Ways to Love You

Damien Binder “Good As Gone”

The video begins with two staunch-looking men standing in a room. They’re wearing suits, no ties and seem to be in serious-business mode. In walks Damien. He greets the two men, who stand either side of them. Then Damien begins singing and it becomes clear what the heavies are there for. Whenever Damien sings, the blokes grab him and pull him back. Such is the power of his pop-rock skills, he must be restrained.

While the ’90s saw a rash of Tarantino clone videos, this one seems to have taken the Tarantino style as an inspiration but has done its own thing. It’s a familiar look, but there’s something delightfully unusual happening in this video.

The tussle continues with Damien singing, the heavies pulling him back, Damien flashing a nice-guy smile, and the cycle repeating. The heavies get a bit sick of this wide boy and kick him to the floor. But he magically emerges from the side, starts singing again and the scuffles continue.

Then a young woman appears with a tray of half-time oranges and everyone takes a little time to refresh. We also see a mysterious fellow sitting in a director’s chair. The action resumes, but this time it’s even more crazy. The young woman joins in, attacking the goons with a toilet plunger and a bag of oranges. Eventually the action ends with smiles, hugs and hearty cheques for the heavies – proof that people get paid for work in New Zealand music videos.

Best bit: the ornament, lovingly put back in place after being knocked off.

Director: Jonathan King
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… all aboard!

Joe Dukie & DJ Fitchie “Seconds”

Taking some time out from Fat Freddys Drop, Joe Dukie and DJ Fitchie (aka David Dallas and DJ Mu) released the smooth groove of “Seconds”. And – it must be noted – this is as close as you’re going to get to NZ On Air video funding for Fat Freddys Drop – the group didn’t receive a cent.

Partly shot during Fat Freddys were on the road Kaikoura and Raglan, the video takes its cue from the digital meets organic sound of the song. Fitchie is messing around with his sampler, while Dukie is hanging out on a rocky Wellington beach. Fitche, being in urgent need of his musical partner, kind of takes control of Dukie, sending him running up a hill.

Fitchie is in a secret location in downtown Wellington, but he makes Dukie take the scenic route, going by Mount Victoria (complete with a panoramic shot of the city). And while he’s on his journey, he’s also treated to a couple of flashbacks of previous visits to Kaikoura and the Soundsplash festival in Raglan.

Eventually the two are reunited and Dukie hands Fitchie a disk that has the ability to create something far more valuable than remotely controlling your creative partner. Their eyes light up as they see the sampler create a big can of corned beef.

I like the tone of this video. It’s lighthearted without being silly. While the video plot does seem a bit complicated, the song is allowed to dominate and it’s a load more interesting than a run-of-the-mill “band on the road” video.

Best bit: the look of absolute glee as the can of corned beef appears.

Directors: Sarah Hunter and Jacob Luamanuvae
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… lemme at ’em!

Fur Patrol “Lydia”

Before Adele and “Someone Like You”, “Lydia” was the default white-girl-blues song for those evenings requiring white wine and bitter tears. It’s a great song (it hit number one in the charts) and has a perfect singalong chorus – “My babeeeeey! Don’t you want me anymore?”

Director Jonathan King sets the band performing in an intimate venue (filmed at Verona on K Road). It soon becomes clear they’re miming their instruments. It’s not just air guitar, but also air bass, air drums and air microphone. As sultry nightclub singer Julia Deans sings the song, the camera captures her dramatic eye rolls and sarcastic facial gestures. She’s singing across the room from a couple at a table – a crusty looking guy sitting with a blonde chick. Lydia.

When the chorus comes around, the sarcasm leaves Julia’s face. She gets right to the emotional core of the song, that feeling of awfulness.

As the video progresses we discover that Lydia is played by Julia Deans in a wig, complete with the same labret piercing. Julia walks over to the crusty guy and Lydia and climbs up on their table. But she seems to be as invisible to them as the band’s instruments are to us. But something happens. Julia turns to Lydia and cries, “My baby, don’t you love me anymore?” Lydia acknowledges her, her face dropping. And we realise – Julia was never singing to the crusty guy (good, because gross); she was singing to Lydia, a blonde version of herself.

Such a simple and such a devastatingly good video.

Best bit: the crusty guy’s wine tasting mime.

Director: Jonathan King
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… a pretty cool night in Auckland.

Zed “Renegade Fighter”

This is another song and video that I have a disproportionately high level of love for. Even the near daily use of the song in the sports store TV commercials haven’t killed it for me. So come with me into the world of Zed and the “Renegade Fighter” video.

The song starts off with a spooky music-box sound. It’s a dark and stormy night and we’re inside an empty house. Lightening flashes, the Venetian blinds flap and suddenly there’s guitarist Andy with that opening chord. Bassist Ben (who’s doing the vocals on the verses) appears and does an alarmingly sexual slide on his instrument. The chorus kicks in and there’s Nathan in the corridor giving a hearty lip-sync of the chorus. It’s like a curious mash-up of a classic boy band video and a cool but arty rock video.

Second verse has Ben sitting in a perfect boy band pose. The camera stays on him for a straight 25 seconds, even sticking around when the chorus starts with Ben just doing a teen idol stare at the camera.

The band rock out together for the next chorus (nice pacing), then we return to Ben in a room draped with fairy lights, cutting to Andy delivering a few licks on his guitar.

There’s some clever editing in this video, echoing the spooky strobe-like lightning effect. The video isn’t obsessed with making this a pretty pop video, and there are some delightfully weird touches. But then just in case we’d forgotten these were teen dudes, the video ends with Nathan giving Andy a playful punch.

“Renegade Fighter” was Zed’s highest charting single (reaching number four), and I like to think of it as Zed at their absolute peak as kings of teen pop-rock.

Best bit: the patterned wallpaper, looking a bit too authentically New Zealand to be a “Song 2” homage.

Bonus: here’s Zed performing “Renegade Fighter” live, with no shirts on, in front of an audience of adoring, screaming fans. It’s only 1:47 long, probably due to the camera having a fangirl freakout.

Director: Julian Boshier
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… stripped down acoustic styles.

The Datsuns “Super Gyration”

It wasn’t until 2002 when the Datsuns struck rock ‘n’ roll gold, but right from their early days, they were determined to be much more than just some band from Cambridge. “Super Gyration” was their first release, issued only on 7-inch vinyl. The accompanying video was directed by fellow Waikato pal Greg Page, who went with a grunty cars ‘n’ rock dudes theme.

The video kicks off with a tachometer that’s revving to the rhythm of the song. And then: “Come on! Rock ‘n’ roll!” Suddenly we meet the band, performing in a garage full of old hot rods courtesy of the Ooga Boys hot rod club – and there’s even an old Datsun in there. The band all have relatively short hair, having not reached the follicular splendour of later years.

Greg Page has always been good at capturing bands’ live energy and he does this well with the Datsuns. This doesn’t feel like a band who have been told to go crazy for the music video; it’s more like they’re just doing what they always do.

About halfway through the song quietens down a bit so the band go and have rest in the break room of the Onehunga panel beater where the video was shot. In there the camera slowly rotates around the room, and apart from a strategically placed record cover, it doesn’t look like much set dressing has gone on. It’s a really blokey room.

The “Super Gyration” video is a perfect introduction to the Datsuns, setting themselves up as a band of young dudes who just want to rock out and impress the ladies.

Best bit: shots of the individual band members posing next to the cars.

Director: Greg Page
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… gonna set ur soul on fire.

Goodshirt “Green”

So here’s a curious thing. There were two videos made for Goodshirt’s song “Green” and they both appear to have had NZ On Air funding — though only one entry is listed in the database.

The first video was funded in 2000 and released in the same year. The video was directed by Florian Habicht and has the sort of quirky, arty style the director would become known for in the coming years.

The video is set at a West Coast beach, where Goodshirt can be found, buried up to their shoulders in sand. While they’re stuck with nothing to do but play their instruments, there are others at the beach who have more freedom.

Goodshirt are joined by a number of schoolgirls (including a pre-Shortland Street, pre-Power Rangers Li Ming Hu), wearing a boys’ school uniform. (This feels pretty submissive, considering how strong the “sexy schoolgirl” trope is.) The girls have hula hoops and happily hoop away while the band give an energetic performance.

Then about three years later, a second video appeared. This time it was directed by Supergroove bass player (and legendary music video director) Joe Lonie. He became especially known for the videos he made with Goodshirt — four quirky, low-budget one-take music videos that have mostly become classics.

Like a lot of Joe Lonie videos, there’s a gimmick to it – the video is shot upside down with the band dangling into an upside down bathroom.

Each of the band members take turns at the sink, each introduced by a caption with their name. As they’re all danging upside down, their faces puffy with gravity and blood, perhaps the captions are necessary to identify the members.

It’s a fun video, and we lol at Gareth trying to apply Old Spice while it dribbles up to the ceiling. But I don’t think that tone works with the song. The song has a really cool and sexy attitude. The crazy antics of the video neuter that attitude, turning it from “Hey girl” to “Yo dudez!” And really – no one wants to see someone spitting toothpaste up their nose.

Director: Florian Habicht (first video)
Director: Joe Lonie (second video)
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… I believe the children are our future.

Chris Knox “My Only Friend”

This is a love song. Chris Knox might be best known for his iconic love song “Not Given Lightly”, but “My Only Friend” takes things to a whole nother level, with his heartfelt declaration of love for his then partner Barbara Ward.

The video has the usual DIY feeling of Chris’ previous solo and Tall Dwarfs video, but there’s a real sense of vulnerability here in both the song and the visuals.

The video consists of film projected onto different parts of Barbara’s body. It starts with a simple animation of two hands passing a love heart, projected on Barbara’s belly. In another animation, a hand caresses her skin. It’s pretty cute.

But things get more personal. Chris’ face is projected on the side of Barbara’s head. As the song progresses, we also see Chris’ face projected onto Barbara’s face, with almost perfect alignment, making two become one. The song is about having an all-consuming love for another person and the video depicts this with raw honestly. It works in both general terms and also as a very personal, very specific statement.

It’s sad to watch this now and to know that Barbara and Chris are no longer a couple, but I look to the title of the song – “my only friend”. I get the feeling that while they may no longer be sweet lovers in the night, that friendship remains.

Best bit: the animated hand stroking the real belly button.

Director: Chris Knox
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… drop me out!

Nathan Haines “Lady J”

Aw yeah. “Lady J” is a very cool song and the video is the dopeness. Compared to the more polite album version, the video version of “Lady J” has more of a low end, with a rap added courtesy of Sonny Sagala (aka Dei Hamo). That detail lifts the song, taking it a step away from its melodic jazz roots and making it the sort of tune that the Ice TV gang would gush over.

The spunky video is directed by Josh Frizzell and takes on a kind of scrapbook look. Shapes containing Nathan, Sonny and other band members slowly glide or fragment across the screen. It looks a bit like a DVD menu screen from the ’00s, but there’s something that makes it just that bit more sophisticated.

Nathan looks quite different to his usual appearance. He has closely shaven hair and is wearing tinted spectacles. It somehow makes him look much older the young man of 22 he was – but perhaps this was intended. And it was something that hugely appealed to me at age 19 – a video evoking a cool, sophisticated world that seemed out of reach for me in from suburban Hamilton.

In a way, a trick is being played. The video is taking a jazz track and presenting it in such a way that it crossed over to the world of teen pop, like a gateway drug to a cooler world of music.

Best bit: the side silhouette of Nathan’s trousers. Good cut.

Bonus: here’s Nathan in 1995 talking about his album “Shift Left” from TV3’s music show “Frenzy”.

Director: Josh Frizzell
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Strawpeople “Under the Milky Way”

Wikipedia lists 20 artists who’ve covered “Under the Milky Way”. But you know who got their first? Strawpeople, that’s who. Go, New Zealand!

Their version take away the ’80s post-punk sound of the original and gives it some smooth ’90s dance sounds. The video sticks with this vibe, making a sophisticated experience.

Stephanie Tauevihi is the star of the video, in an elegant black suit, big hair and bold make-up. When we see the other Strawpeople – Mark Tierney and Paul Casserly – they’re both playing guitars. This doesn’t normally happen in Strawpeople vids – they tend to lurk in the background, looking all mysterious. Here it’s like, oh, they’re just musicians. How disappointing.

But there’s plenty of oddness to make up for it. We see scenes of a nerdy woman hunched over a typewriter (like what I am doing *right now*, only with a laptop), a reprise of those fabulous Ioasa cheekbones, and a small boy with a globe of the world.

A lot of the footage is out of focus, as if we’re not quite allowed to see everything that’s going on. The rapidly panning camera isn’t going to show us everything. It feels like being a casual observer, with only a connection to Stephanie. Everything else that’s happening doesn’t quite concern us.

Strawpeople videos intrigue me. They simultaneously manage to seem very superficial and shallow, and yet also genuinely deep and meaningful. And I reckon that’s a perfect match for their music.

Best bit: the astronaut hugs nerd girl. Baby, he’ll take u 2 the milky way.

Directors: Mark Tierney and Paul Casserly
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the finest lady.

Emma Paki “Greenstone”

Cliff Curtis stars in the follow-up to “System Virtue” (after Bully in “Once Were Warriors, before Pablo Escobar in “Blow”). Cliff plays a trouble young Maori and we first discover him sleeping in his beat-up old car. This is filmed in black and white, but a burst of colour comes in the form of Emma, who gorgeously appears in full colour, decorated in the splendours of nature (ferns and stuff).

Back in the real world, Cliff is at work on a road crew. It’s hot work and he takes a break in the shade of a tree. There, next to a stop/go sign, Emma appears in front of him, which strangely reminds me of Edward appearing before Bella in “Twlight: New Moon”.

Cliff is caught slacking off but dramatically quits and goes into town to hang out with his pals – and consciously rejects a beer. There’s some good footage around the popular music video location of Karangahape Road.

Cliff is caught mackin’ on to someone else’s girl outside the McDonald’s, and after a light scuffle he storms off, eating his feelings at the White Lady food caravan. Mid cheeseburger, Emma appears again, and this time he understands.

Because this is a New Zealand story, nothing good can ever happen in the city, and redemption can only be found in the bush. Cliff makes his way to a waterfall, where Emma appears to him for a third time, turning his black and white world into colour. She presents him with a pounamu pendant, which is just what he needs. Together they are happy.

It’s a lovely video. I also like that it’s a video that isn’t afraid to have a serious plot. Director Kerry Brown has told the story well, but includes plenty of shots of Emma Paki on her own, looking amazing.

Best bit: The brief glimpse of a Playboy cover in the dodgy second-hand bookshop in St Kevin’s Arcade.

Director: Kerry Brown
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the sound of the underground.