December 2007: Aaradhna, All Left Out, Andrew Mockler, Atlas, Audio Empire, Bleeders

The Wild West, sad basketball, midday in Moscow, a sin city implosion, and the last job of Andy’s Floral Deliveries.

Continue reading December 2007: Aaradhna, All Left Out, Andrew Mockler, Atlas, Audio Empire, Bleeders

October 2007: All Left Out, Anika Moa, Annabel Fay, Autozamm, Bleeders

The wild west, shocking Amsterdam, a boring wander, jumping off a waterfall, and the guys that punched.
Continue reading October 2007: All Left Out, Anika Moa, Annabel Fay, Autozamm, Bleeders

October 2006: 5Star Fallout, Annabel Fay, Bleeders, Brooke Fraser, Cobra Khan

A rainy night in Tokyo, another ’06 Bonnie and Clyde, the rehearsal shed crashers, teen glam, punk pop prancing.
Continue reading October 2006: 5Star Fallout, Annabel Fay, Bleeders, Brooke Fraser, Cobra Khan

April 2006: 4 Corners, Bleeders, Chong Nee, Connan and the Mockasins, Donald Reid,

A mob hit gone wrong, the lord of the forest goes to the seaside, artful projections, serious soul and more sensual writhing.
Continue reading April 2006: 4 Corners, Bleeders, Chong Nee, Connan and the Mockasins, Donald Reid,

Bleeders “Out of Time”

In every Bleeders video, there’s an inevitable shot of Angelo grabbing the microphone, showing off the Straight Edge X’s on the back of his hands, which reminds me that straight edge is still a thing. Guys, if you’re feeling kinda glum, just think about straight edge and all your troubles will disappear.

We find sXe pinup Angelo and his bandmates mooching around the Bob Hill Reserve skate park in New Lynn, in the days before the council cleaned all the graffiti off. This is not allowed to be a fun community youth recreation facility; it’s all urban and gritty, ok.

When the band aren’t at the skate bowl, they’re performing in a studio with footage of the skate park projected behind them, just in case the studio wasn’t urban or gritty enough.

The winner is shouting everyone McDonald's.
The winner is shouting everyone McDonald’s.

Back in the skate bowl, with the Pagani outlet store in the background, the lads are hunched in a circle, playing craps. There’s a shot of the money that had been laid down – two $20 notes and a six $1 and $2 coins, less than $50, all up. And the weird scenario where two people have put in $20 each, but the others have just plonked down whatever loose change they’ve had in their pockets. I can’t help feel that someone is getting ripped off.

The video ends with footage of the Bleeders hanging out with their mates. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves – and it works a lot more successfully than the attempt at street craps.

Best bit: footage of Angelo at the skate park flawlessly switches to the studio backdrop.

Director: Andrew Morton
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the fall girl.

Bleeders “So Lonely”

2004-the-bleeders-so-lonelyI’ve just realised something. As I moved into videos from 2004, suddenly the quality of the files on YouTube was reduced, with 240p being pretty standard. Why? Because unlike earlier videos, these ones weren’t uploaded, say, a couple of years ago. A lot of videos from 2004 were uploaded in 2006 when YouTube was only about a year old and only had one quality level – 320 x 240 pixels. So we have now entered the era of native YouTube uploads and with it comes blocky, pixelly video quality.

So, we find the Bleeders in 240p glory playing their song in a black studio, with band members sparingly lit. It’s all very shadowy. The band are mostly dressed in black, along with their uniform black hair, though the guitarist is really letting everyone down with his bright red guitar.

And that’s basically it: the Bleeders dressed in black, playing “So Lonely” in a black room. It’s not the first time this style has been used (Stella used a less dramatic black setting for their “Star” video), and it’s always struck me an effective way to do a low-budget video that doesn’t look cheap.

I imagine a video like this playing on C4 and all the Bleeders fans being really into it. It’s not an amazing video that’s about to go viral, but far as being a Bleeders video goes, it’s doing a good job.

Best bit: the brief moment of stillness when the band pose together against a wall.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… poor indoor-outdoor flow.

Bleeders “All That Glitters”

2004-the-bleeders-all-that-glittersThere’s nine seconds of silence and stillness, as the camera moves through the corridor of an old warehouse, then suddenly – “Let’s burn the bridges!” and the anti-bling anthem kicks off. The Bleeders were a hardcore punk band, though they became more metal on their second album. “All that Glitters” was their explosive debut.

The band has a ton of energy as they deliver the impossibly catchy tune with its tight singalong chorus. This is captured well by Greg Page, who was like the go-to guy for videos that rocked as hard as they bands within.

The secret is that despite all the black hair and tattoos and attitude, “All that Glitters” is secretly a pop song, cleverly hiding under all the guitars and fringes. And really, no one’s going to notice when the lead singer has a Straight Edge “X” tattooed on his hand. (Remember Straight Edge? I tried being Straight Edge for a week before I inadvertently engaged in non-SXE behaviour and gave up.)

Lead singer Angelo brings energy and swagger to the video. When he sings, it’s like he’s using his whole body to get the words out. It’s the sort of video that makes the band seem like they’d be really amazing to see live – and it sounds like they were.

Best bit: the pink Chucks go en pointe.

Director: Greg Page
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… not enough fairy lights.