Bring a torch, nope, electro dress-up, a wild west, everything from the ’90s, the two Jases and slapstick comedy trauma.
Dane Rumble “Everything (Take Me Down)”
Sometimes it’s nice to just escape to an Ivan Slavov-directed video for a Dane Rumble song. “Everything” follows an 18-year-old girl with dyed grey hair (#2010). She’s received a text on her iPhone from Dane: “Gig 2nyt in the Bunker… bring a torch!” While iPhones have much more cinematic potential, the old version of iOS looks terribly dated seven years down the track.
She jumps in a vintage car, and to the video’s credit, the car is shown as belonging to her dad, not creating some sort of fantasy world where teenage girls, not middle-aged men, own vintage cars. She drives around picking up her two boy friends (boyfriends?) and they make it to one of the bunkers in North Head where a full-on Dane Rumble gig is in progress. Why the torches? The gig is properly lit, so there’s no practical need for them. One can only imagine that it is to justify D. Rumble wearing sunglasses indoors.
Director: Ivan Slavov
Derty Sesh “Forever”
This video is horrible. It’s violent and misogynistic — and I don’t use either of those terms lightly. Aspiring rapper Derty Sesh plays a psycho killer who terrorises and murders a young couple. He kills the man quickly, but the woman is stalked, brutally tortured and murdered. Why? No motivation is given. The short version of the video is unpleasant, the extended version is brutal and cruel and reflects poorly on those involved in its creation. By the way, the extended version was supposedly not funded by NZ On Air, but how does that even work when both versions were obviously filmed at the same time?
At the time the video was released, there was a huge backlash. There’s a discussion over on Luddite Journo, which gives an indication of how the video was received at the time. The record label said they were surprised at the offence caused because they just thought they were making a horror show, like Dexter (but guys, Dexter was a likeable character, a vigilante whose victims were all murderers that had previously escaped justice). It all ended with Derty Sesh reported as being “exhausted” from the backlash.
Mate, it’s exhausting being a woman in a world where this sort of shit happens.
Director: Tim van Dammen
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Erakah featuring JR “Day & Night”
It’s sad that this song was never a hit because it’s such a fab, cool 2010 pop track, with layers of the edgy synth pop sound that Gaga had taken mainstream. Sadly the video isn’t as good as the song. It puts Erakah in a number of different looks performing against coloured green-screen backgrounds, sometimes joined by a couple of dancers. The video lacks the energy and sexy cool of the song, and seems too taken by Erakah playing dress-up. It could have been so much better.
Director: Liam Williams
Gin Wigmore “Hey Ho”
“Hey Ho” was the first of Gin Wigmore’s videos to be filmed in the United States, but weirdly enough the hilly setting could have been played by one of Wellington’s valleys. And Wellington could probably even muster up a mariachi group and a couple of gothic drag queens. Gin and her quirky pals inhabit a strange black and white world, bringing plenty of drama to her saucy song of a relationship’s end.
Director: Moh Azima
Hollie Smith “Mamma”
The “Mamma” video is a throwback to the ambitious, stylish, Tarantino-inspired heist videos of the mid 1990s. Everything and everyone looks good. As well as Hollie and her band, the video stars Oliver Driver, Pana Hema-Taylor, Shavaughn Ruakere, Nick Dwyer, Danielle Cormack, and the late Helena McAlpine who also produced the video. Despite the ’90s kitchen-sink influence, the video still stands as a document of Auckland in 2010 – this is what it felt like, at least.
Director: Preston McNeil
Ivy Lies “Never Enough”
Ivy Lies deliver their brand of perfect pop-punk with “Never Enough”. The video is set at Auckland’s Alberton historic house. where the band rock out both inside and outside the house. They also deal to a troublesome guy using a period-appropriate punishment.
Director: Ivan Slavov
Jayson Norris “Love Someone”
Jayson Norris is joined by his pal Jason Kerrison whose frequent hamming manages to totally steal the show. All those years of making serious rock videos for Opshop have been chucked out and Jason is free to do as much finger dancing and eyebrow acting as he desires. While it doesn’t fully let Jayson Norris shine, Kerrison’s presence turns the song from an ordinary romantic relationship song to one celebrating a bromance, a close friendship between two guys.
Katchafire “Sweet As”
Oh look, another video shot in Raglan. There’s a correlation between the number of videos shot in Raglan and other provincial locations and the increasing cheapness and accessibility of video production equipment. “Sweet As” follows one of the band members who has a crush on a woman he sees around town. He follows her, usually ending up with slapstick comedy trauma. Eventually they get together, but then he wakes up and it’s all a dream. Or is it? It’s a fun video, one of those ones that makes Raglan (and also possibly some scenes at Hamilton Lake) look very cool and beachy. The video also has cameos from a number of rugby league and union players.
Director: Marc Swadell