Words by the Honey Nothings.
After a musical dry spell during which Donald Trump assumed presidency and Britain voted to leave the EU, Honey Nothings knew they owed the world an audio visual experience that was as vivid as the world was bleak.
In hopes of crafting an identity from the ashes of what they once were, Sam, James, Pete and Alex concocted a striking, debaucherous and logistically strenuous video pitch, the likes of which northern Sydney had never before seen.
Armed with a Sony A7S, cinematographically capable amigos James Macintyre and Ollie Quirk, a powder blue 64 Morris Mini panel van, the Honey Nothings knew it was time to initiate their conquest of the greater Sydney region.
We wanted this music video to do a couple of things for us as a newly debuting band. We needed a video that would make you double take scrolling past it on your news feed, encapsulate our re-envisioned image and, most importantly, function as a super fun complement to the track.
Three of us came up with the idea of waking up in different environments and converging at the end of the clip after a few beers one night, enthralled at the diverse number of novelty scenes that could potentially be incorporated. Only after drafting a shot list, running it by Ollie and Jimmy, and starting to shoot did we actually appreciate how dire of an undertaking the task was going to be.
The agenda took us from the one way streets of the inner west all the way to the sands of the northern beaches, resulting in what could possibly be the most disjointed itinerary of all time.
It took two months to complete the clip, shooting through our uni exam periods and then mid semester break, everyone scouring their calendars for mere half days of availability. Furthermore, our bassist Alex had relocated to Wollongong since we had last been consistently active, further convoluting the operation.
Even once we had found the time, all was not resolved, as we still had to fulfil the shot list, with some scenes being more challenging than others. One would not think it would be so difficult to find three share bikes in the middle of Sydney city, for example.
After 90 minutes chasing up broken bikes in Redfern, we conceded it had ultimately been more of a challenge than previously thought, finally finishing the shot in question after about three hours of scouting, searching and shooting.
In addition , singing along to a double speed version of the track whilst skating down a suburban backstreet towards a bus isn’t the kind of thing easily nailed in one go, we found out about seven takes later.
I think you’ll agree however, that all of these challenges and quirks really add to the charisma of the video, quite beautifully crystallising the fun, awkward and ultimately fulfilling experience it was in the end.
Hence, we hope you enjoy our wacky little labour of love, Edinburgh.
