Music Videos:
Vanity or Necessity?
Last month we discussed with Hip Music Video Promo the importance of promoting your music videos and the secrets behind a successful video campaign. This month we get the inside scoop from 3 artists with successful music videos in the marketplace. Are videos really necessary?
An Interview With Val Emmich
Acclaimed New Jersey born-and-bred singer-songwriter, Val Emmich,
is no stranger to the screen. He remains the only unsigned artist to
ever appear on MTV’s Total Request Live (TRL), on which he promoted
his first music video, “Privacy Attracts a Crowd.” The video was also
featured on the MTV show Advance Warning. One major record (Epic
released Slow Down Kid) deal, two full-length self-released albums (Sunlight
Search Party, SONGS Volume 1: Woodstock), and multiple network television
show (Hope and Faith, 30 Rock, Cashmere Mafia) appearances later, Emmich
has enjoyed indie success.
Emmich’s star continues to rise and this year he nabbed top honors in
the Independent Music Award’s new music video category with “The
Only One Lonely.” Below, he discusses experimenting with stop motion
photography, the importance of planning and his decision to stick with
the one director. Click here for more.
Interview with
Maya Von Doll,
vocalist for
Sohodolls
Provocative Filthy Pretty Records act, Sohodolls has created quite a
stir that extends beyond the band’s hometown of London. The first
two singles off their debut album, Ribbed Music For the Numb
Generation, reached #7 and #'12 on the UK indie charts, followed by
last year's classic, 'Stripper,' which earned critical acclaim from
tastemakers like The Fly, Clash and NME. Now, vocalist Maya von Doll
and her band mates are winning over American audiences.
With assist by HIP Video Promo, the band’s video for “Right and Right
Again,” has been added to over 45 outlets thus far, including Yahoo!,
Billboard.com, Google Videos, AOL and Mania TV. This month, the
campaign for the Sohodolls’ upcoming American single, “Stripper,”
begins hitting programmers. Here, the singer speaks about the
importance of music videos and how they have advanced her band’s
career. Click here for more.
Interview with Dony West, Guitarist for Sink to See
Spin Magazine recently hosted a release party for the Los Angeles
based band Sink to See at The Key Club that featured a live
performance and screening of the band’s new music video for their
single “Speakers.”
Collaborating with Independent Music Awards Judge Tim Pagnotta
from Sugarcult, the song appears on the band’s self-titled EP, on MTV's The Hills, and on
Capcom’s MOTO GP 2007, out now on a XBox 360 near you.
Here, guitarist Dony West and the gang share their thoughts on
successfully making and using music videos as well as some on set
“Spinal Tap” moments.
AP: Is a music video a necessity or is it a vanity
expense?
Dony West: I think more and more it is becoming a self
indulgence, but we are products of late 80s MTV, so it
only feels natural. I think it is more about a band
making another artistic statement and less of a
marketing tool as it use to be, but it is still fun
to look perrrdy for a day.
AP: At what point in your career did you decide to bite
the bullet & plunk down money for a video?
Dony West: Pretty early. We did some indie style videos at first,
that turned out pretty cool actually. We did a video
for a song 'AQUA' back in 2002 that we shot in a
airport hanger at Santa Monica Airport.
AP: How did you know that it was time to take the
plunge?
Dony West: We would have done a video the first day we started
the band if we could have. We actually thought
it would be a nice promo element, and I’m sure there
was some vanity involved as well.
AP: How much did it cost to produce your first video?
Dony West: I believe it was only $400.00 dollars, but it was from
a director looking to start his video portfolio. That
is usually when we get the most for our money, to work
with people who are venturing into the Music Video
relm, and we can get the discount price. It usually
ends up looking great.
AP: Was it hard to come up with the financing?
Dony West: At that time yes, but we felt at that time (2002) that
is what bands needed in their press kit (kinda funny
because it wouldn’t be played on a video channel, and
there wasn’t You Tube or MySpace at that point)...but
you can bet we have it up now.
AP: Aside from funding, what's the hardest part of
making a video?
Dony West: It is emotionally exhausting, because you want it to
look the best it possibly can. It’s like you have
been in the recording studio all day, and you feel
like you have been physically and creatively drained.
AP: How did you choose your director?
Dony West: You take whoever approaches you. Usually, if you are
approached by a director who is passionate about your
song or band, their excitement will translate to a
great video....and usually they are more open to the
artist opinions as well.
AP: Who creates the videos vision & storyline? Is it
your idea or a collaborative effort?
Dony West: A good director will ask for your opinion, but also
have a strong concept in mind. You have to set aside
your diva and let them do their art. Check out their
story boards or past videos, and say "I like what your
idea is here, or that lighting you used there...can
you use that on our video?" Like any good creative
relationship with your band mates, it should be a
mutual respect of ideas, and all on the same page.
AP: You've made several videos – are they vastly
different from each other or do they share a certain
look & feel?
Dony West: As a photographer, I feel like I aim for a consistent
ascetic composition with lighting and camera angles. I
feel as though if something is visually interesting you
are going to watch regardless of what you are hearing.
I have always liked performance videos but with
intense lighting and muted color pallets, like the
BRMC videos or the last Muse video. The new “Speakers”
video is a nice contrast to that, with these blasting
rays of vivid vector based shapes and colors, along
with our past style of blacks and neutrals.
AP: What have you learned not to do?
Dony West: Gotta watch out for those accidental Motley Crew lip
puckers when the camera does the close – up.
AP: Where are your videos being played?
Dony West: Currently we found out that MTVU has just accepted our
video, so we are going through all these unknown steps
of getting our video prepped for the 'big time' with
Beta Versions, and Closed Caption. It is exciting. We
have also blasted the video out to our media sources
like MySpace videos and You Tube.
AP: How have your videos supported your releases or
helped your career?
Dony West: We will find out :)
On Making Their Video:
Shawn Bathe (Bass): When I entered the set, I was impressed by the amount of crew there
ready to work. There must have been 15 or so. The director and DP
(Director of Photography) were on their game and you could tell they
had done this stuff before. This definitely wasn't just my old neighbor
shooting summer water fights on a 1976 plastic Panasonic video
camera in the backyard type of event. It was a super pro happening.
But that's all boring. I liked the food and the drinks and the girls. We
got to dressed up lots and tried on all different types of cool gear.
When it was my turn to rock, I suddenly realized I don't really know
what rocking is. And that I suck at it and that I'd have to learn real
quick.
See, I was never in emo-core nu-metal band. My feet never leave the
ground. And my guitar neck never goes behind my head. Call me old
fashioned, or just lazy. We busted ass for 12 hours sweating, getting
makeup done, throwing our instruments around, sweating, drinking,
laughing, cheering on our fans and friends that made appearances in
the video, sweating. You'd think it was 90 degrees in this warehouse
with all the sweating going on! It wasn't. It was raining and cold that
day. But those lights are hot and sweat looks cooler in videos.
Jason Napier (Vocals): It was actually a very cool experience. I kind of wasn't sure what to
expect, this wasn't the first time we ever made a video, but it was the
first time we ever made a video with any kind of budget, so it was
pretty cool for us. I remember the weather being so strange that day.
It would be sunny, then suddenly huge dark clouds would roll in and
then pouring rain. But, they managed to get a few really cool shots of
the band on the rooftop of the buiding we were shooting in.
It was sunny and raining at the same time for a few short moments,
one of those fleeting amazing moments we happened to get on film.
All of the kids we had in the video were great, they did a fantastic job
of rocking out to "Speakers" and were really cool people. The crew was
fantastic and the director Tanya Nea Thayer was amazing. As a band
making a video, you have to really trust the director's vision, and we
are so amped about what she put together. Her ideas were great and
it was very easy working with her. The video to me serves the song
well, and we are thankful to have such talented and cool people
involved with us, its not always easy to pull off an effective video, and
at the end of the day, I think we did.
Dony West (Guitar): "This was our first real attempt at what would be considered an MTV
worthy video. We thought that it would be fun, and something that we
could use in our press kit. Then we showed up and saw and entire
crew of people, with set lighting/ grip, camera trolleys and green
screen! It was definitely our 'Spinal Tap' moment. The only thing that
came to mind when I was doing my shots on the green screen? Miming
to my own song is 'all those hours of lip syncing to Bon Jovi and Poison
for my grandma and her friends finally paid off!!!"
WATCH the “Speakers” video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU_qHpDoLgo
LEARN more about Sink to See:
www.myspace.com/sinktosee
Click for our interviews with Val Emmich, and
Maya von Doll, frontwoman for Sohodolls.
When she’s not working hard at MRG, Joelle Caputa is helping promote indie
artists through Planet Verge magazine and Audio Crush PR.
Her dog, a
Siberian Husky/German Shepard mix, Skye, is often at her side.
