Strike up the band
What made you want to work with Colossus?
Camille Alexander: The persistency. John Clay first approached me asking if I would direct the video about half a year ago, and proceeded to sing Red Hot Chili Peppers covers underneath my window a capella every day for 2 months and said he wouldn’t stop until I accepted to be part of the project. It worked.
You've created a lot of successful music videos that rely on a '90s DIY approach. What skills did you draw upon in shooting 'Strike Up The Band'?
Camille Alexander: The main skill I brought to this shoot is my ability to shout at people and tell them what to do. Also, my knowledge of the Jumping Sofa building was quite useful for chasing the different protagonists of the video around when it was time for their scene. I would even follow people in the bathroom and tell them to hurry up, even offering help to wipe their bums. Despite my extensive knowledge of the location I still managed to lose some people at times who were well hidden in the bushes of the garden.
What were the challenges of working on the video and what skills did you learn and plan to utilise in future shoots?
Camille Alexander: This video was surprisingly smooth and easy considering the number of people involved. I would say the main challenge was the hide-and-seek game and managing to raise my voice louder than the general cacophony but I can shout pretty loud, to be honest, it's kind of my job. I think what made it particularly easy was the script with each scene written with a lot of detail, and having one person for each job: Sergio Angot filming, Sara Priegue on the make-up, David and Neil on lights, so that everyone wasn't scattered trying to do everything all at once.