Playlist: Callum Harrison

What’s the best music video you’ve seen recently and why?

Doechii - Denial is a River, directed by James Mackel and Carlos Acosta.

The concept, the performance and the execution is all on point.

What’s the first music video you remember being impressed by?

 As a kid it was Spike Jonze and Fat Boy Slim - Weapon Of Choice. Lovely stuff.

When I was a little older, to get us in the mood to go out, me and my friends used to watch Daniel Wolfe’s vid for Chase and Status - Blind Faith.

Also (and I can assure you the higher ups at CANADA have not asked me to say this) CANADA’s video for El Guincho - Bombay was a real moment for me. It was probably the first time I started thinking about the directors behind music videos.

And what’s your all-time favourite music video?

The Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be, directed by Michel Gondry.

What other directors/artists do you look to for inspiration?

Paul Thomas Anderson, Ruben Östlund, Rick Rubin, John August and Craig Mazen’s podcast Scriptnotes, Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Roy Andersson, Hiro Murai, Kurt Vonnegut, Ursula Le Guin, the Safdie brothers, and the Coen brothers.

What are you listening to at the moment?

Amyl and the Sniffers, Geese, Bad Bunny, Nilüfer Yanya, Blood Orange, Kendrick Lamar, Doechii, Queens of the Stone Age, Fontaines DC, LCD Soundsystem, Saya Grey, Olivia Dean, Fcukers, Wu-Tang Clan, and Nick Cave.

What’s your favourite bit of tech, whether for professional or personal use?

I’m probably a bit of a grouch when it comes to this stuff, I can’t stand complication for the sake of it, but it would probably be my bluetooth headphones. I listen to music, podcasts and stories most of the time but even the headphones piss me off when, more often than they should, they bug out. 

What artist(s) would you most like to work with and why?

All of the below. I love their visual universes, they always push it, and they are great performers (when/if they are in the videos)

Kendrick Lamar, James Blake, Amyl and The Sniffers, Doechii, Arca, Little Simz, Charli XCX, and Fontaines DC

How do you feel the promo industry has changed since you started in it?

The need for an artist to have a constant online presence means less focus on music videos. They are still being made but now visualisers, BTS, stills and cutdowns are all rolled in. So what were tight budgets before are stretched even thinner. 

It’s frustrating, however when approached with enough time and collaboration, it can lend itself to richer world building and a wider reach. Sadly circumstances and deadlines don’t always allow for that 360 approach, but those circumstances were the same when I started, so no change there. 

With the new requests, directors are often asked to take on more of a creative director role which is certainly different to when I started.

 directors are often asked to take on more of a creative director role which is certainly different to when I started.

Despite those changes, the music video is still an important tool that can define an artist and allow them to communicate with their fans. The surrounding content, including music videos, is part of a journey that brings fans into the artist’s world.

Importantly, when I first started, the music video industry acted as a gateway for entry level filmmakers and crew to learn their trade and progress their careers. That aspect hasn’t changed and long may it continue, it needs to be recognised and protected as such.