PRESS RELEASE: New music video for CRIME is a call into the wild
Berlin, March 2014
Tom Tom Magazine is proud to exclusively release the newest music video from Berlin’s duo CRIME. The music video for the single “Luck Comes Sweeter” was produced by Berlin film collective nowMomentnow.
The footage was shot in both Australia and Germany, in this first collaboration from Imogen Heath and Alistair Watts. Heath is best known for collaborating on videos for The Knife, Planningtorock, and Alexander Geist.
CRIME, the Berlin based duo comprised of Mika Risiko and Sarah Adorable, released an EP and toured with the Canadian band Austra in 2013. This is the first single release in 2014, laying the groundwork for a new album and a fresh sound. “Luck Comes Sweeter” was mixed and mastered by Danish musical mastermind and producer Heidi Mortenson.
Video Release Party, April 18 at Schwuz, Berlin
Tom Tom Magazine: What was the inspiration for the video?
CRIME’s Mika Risiko: Alistair Watts and Imogen Heath have said that the song suggested to them a yearning for escape, release or catharsis and they were interested in exploring how these themes might translate visually onto a body in natural landscapes. Their collaboration from different backgrounds in theatre and cinema was inspiring as they sought to capture movement within the architecture of the video frame and how that can signal transformation and also be transformative. The video is about forging an escape and forcing yourself out of safety, charged by a need to feel something different or to find something brilliant and strange. They attempted to soak up the environment, to find patterns, and to let the performers sink into the landscape to both recognize and try to repeat these patterns in nature, then digitally and to celebrate the day to day, like the transitions of the season and the sun coming up everyday.
What is your gear setup?
We use percussion elements, snare drum, floor tom, Roto toms, keys, guitar, backing tracks and then we both sing. We’re trying to build it up and use more analogue instruments through time, switch around. Recently also we started using visuals again which always was an element we played around with.
How do you get ideas for your music videos?
The initial idea for this video came when we were hanging out on some dirty couch in the early hours of a sunday morning after coming home from a party and I played Alistair a demo of the song. We were already planning on doing a video with Imogen and also both of them wanted to collaborate on a project together so they decided to join forces. We haven’t given them any leads in what to do or which way to go, especially since we both love Imogen’s earlier work and wanted to get the real thing, so we told them to run wild and they did. They even refused to tell us anything before we have seen the first edit. it was highly mysterious.
The idea for ‘This Party Blows’ resulted out of the lyrics and also in collaborating with Tom Ehrhardt. It was a chain of thoughts like: boredom-plain-naked-girls-party-pile. stuff like that…
Where was it shot?
The video was shot in Australia around the south and central NSW coast and in Germany, around Berlin. Imogen shot half of her new film project ‘home country’ in berlin, last summer. it also will be shot both in Australia and berlin so therefore we were hanging out with a whole australian crew over the summer and that’s how we met Alistair who then went back to Australia and shot his part of the footage. Imogen did the same in berlin. fun fact: both of them were shooting without having seen the other half. Luckily it all came together very well in the edit.
What is on your record player right now?
A lot of R&B and sexy stuff, the new Trust album, forever Nicki Minaj and we really love the band 18+.
What is in your mug? (tea or coffee)
We’re both going for coffee. Always!
Where is the best spot to see a live show?
We’re excited to play Schwuz on Friday for our video release party. We’ve seen a bunch of shows there and they were amazing. They just moved locations and busted out a fantastic sound system, placed in a gigantic factory hall of an old brewery. It’s very berlin somehow. The very big plus about this is that you make sure you won’t support a greedy promoter/venue/fat ass boss because Schwuz is basically a social centre and a berlin institution. otherwise i’d always prefer DIY spaces and shows. Bei Ruth for example (where you will have the Tom Tom Party on Saturday) is a definite favorite.