Four years after the last JPS Experience video, Dave Yetton returns with a new band, and curiously enough, the video for “Don’t Open Your Eyes” feels like an old JPS Experience vid.
Directed by Andrew Moore, the video follows a lone spaceman exploring a barren yellow-tinged environment (played by Bethells Beach). It’s very similar, in fact, to the look of David Kilgour’s “Beached” video from 1994. But while the “Beached” spaceman wanders about on the bleak, sinister planet, the Stereo Bus spaceman is having a bit more fun. For a start, he’s wearing gumboots.
The spaceman staggers about the alien world and eventually hits a golf ball, as that is what spacemen do. The golf ball takes us to Dave Yetton standing in front of a wall covered with silver foil, again very reminiscent of JPSE videos.
Dave seems to be in some sort of control room, with quickly cut glimpses of switches, lights. Combined with the bright colours and shots of Dave’s eyes, it feels like a homage to “2001: A Space Odyssey”. There’s also a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot helpfully captioned “Illuminati. Secret US Government Installation Security Camera Film”.
Eventually the camera calms down and we can make sense of Dave’s new surroundings. His control room is full of crazy music electronics – reel-to-reel tape recorders, speakers and monitors. And next to that, Dave hangs an electric sign reading “The Stereo Bus”. It has arrived.
Best bit: Dave holds an object that looks like a giant tin foil donut.
Director: Andrew Moore
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… chillin’ with Jordan.
“eventually hits a golf ball, as that is what spacemen do”
I don’t know if was a knowing reference or not, but an astronaut did exactly the above on the moon in 1971 for what it’s worth :).
Hey, I know my space nerditry! It was indeed a reference to Alan Shepard’s lunar tee-off.