Slow Pulp just released their first official music video, directed by Damien Blue, for their track “Preoccupied.” The song comes off EP2, their first album together as a four-piece. The Badger Herald first met the local band in 2016 when Emily Massey joined the crew. They released their EP later in March 2017.
There’s a lot going on visually, including scenes outdoors of the band playing their instruments and scenes with Massey alone. The scenes with only Massey seem more conceptual, pairing the words and the melody with how she portrays emotion through her facial expressions. They make her seem lonely or sad, reflecting the words of the song: “Nothing ever seems to change / I’m still alone / Waiting for someone to come to call my own / Then I saw you from the sea, I could hardly believe my eyes / I just wanna be in love but I don’t want to try.”
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There are a lot of cool stylistic choices as well, from lighting to the outfits, to the carousel, to the retro television, to the saxophone player, etc. Overall, it’s safe to say that it’s an impressive vid. The Badger Herald did a low-key Q&A with Massey below. Check it out:
The Badger Herald: How did the opportunity to film a music video come up?
Emily Massey: We knew that we wanted to make a music video with one of the songs off EP2. Damien, who directed the video, is friends with Henry, Teddy and Alex from high school. He does such lovely film work, and we hit him up to see if he would be interested in this project.
BH: What was the process of filming like?
EM: We shot the video at my family friends’ house, who have a full-size pool inside. Damien brought a crew of four people, who helped to do lighting and filming. It was such a pleasant process, as we were surrounded by our best friends the whole time.
BH: Who made the artistic decisions while filming the video? Was there a lot of collaboration going on?
EM: The content of the video culminated as a collaboration between us and Damien. He had the idea to do the scene at Ella’s Deli. It was really cold the day we filmed that part, and we had to melt the ice cream cone I was holding in a car because it was too cold outside to get it to drip. I’m also glad that we got to work with Ella’s as they just closed for good this month after being open for over 40 years.
BH: What made you pick “Preoccupied” over your other songs?
EM: “Preoccupied” seemed like a good choice for a video because it was our most well-known song. It also evokes a sense of loneliness in love that is seen throughout EP2 as a theme.
BH: What’s next for you guys?
EM: We have been in the process of writing and recording and are hoping to release some new tunes by spring!
