For half a decade now, Sydney’s Bloods have been dishing up ferocious live shows featuring some of the best tunes you’ll hear anywhere. In the process, they’ve become one of the most beloved bands on the scene, and their fanbase only continues to grow.
Having released their second album – Feelings – back in August, the group managed to once again take things up a notch, recording with producer Liam Judson (Cloud Control, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever), and even scoring some love from US station KEXP for their song ‘Step Back’.
With five years of rocking out under their belt, we caught up with the band to have them take us through their music video history as we celebrate five years of Bloods.
The music video history of Bloods
Back To You
We filmed this video in the same place we recorded our Golden Fang EP! We came up with the concept pretty much on the spot and that sweet jigsaw puzzle backdrop just happened to be in the warehouse randomly.
Dirk edited the whole thing and added the colour switch that I think really made the whole clip in the end!
Into My Arms
This one was such a fun clip to make! I had this concept for ages and our friend Gus, totally made it come alive. We shot everything on the stealth with no permits, so it was all done in one or two takes max! It was all shot in and around Chinatown in Sydney.
Language
Dirk made this video out of a collection of footage our mate Gus shot of us while we were (meant to be) recording Golden Fang. We had rented this AMAZING (except for the leeches) house out in Kangaroo Valley for the long weekend, and the plan was to put all the beds for our EP down.
Instead, we got drunk and cooked meals for about 80% of the stay, and only managed to put down the song ‘Back To You’. We ended up having to record the rest of the EP (four songs) in ONE DAY at the warehouse we shot the ‘Back To You’ video at. So it’s a funny clip to song location reversal when you think about it.
No Fun
This was another concept I’d had in my head when I wrote the song. Dirk and I workshopped the concept on a flight back from Melbourne and it all came together. It was directed by me and shot by the legend Dexter Cornelius.
I was SUPER pregnant at the time, which was not without its challenges. Dirk did such a cool job of editing this one and adding all the text! We wanted it to be an homage to Guitar Hero, which was a game we were obsessed with at the time.
Penelope
We got an email from a total legend, Rohan Scarr, who wanted to make a video for us. We actually shot this all in one day and it is the first time we’d ever shot at a proper studio. We got to film it at the ABC studios and we paid for the clip in home made quiche!
It was such a cool experience and the team were just total legends! Rohan’s concept and approach was so bang on for us too, which was a big deal because we’d never really done videos outside of our immediate group of friends.
What Do I Care
This one is a really special clip. We teamed up with Skaterstan and wanted to make the clip both an homage to the incredible skaters in the clip, but also as an exercise in raising awareness for all the brilliant work that Skaterstan does.
They gave us years’ worth of footage and DJ and I sat down and made a narrative out of it. When it was done, I got goosebumps watching it. The song seemed so perfect for the sentiment and attitude of the skaters in the clip.
Want It
This was another Bloods/Dexter Cornelius production. We shot this a the rehearsal room we use to rent at a place called The Pitz. We wanted to capture the frantic energy of the song, so had the idea of shoot some of the clip at a lower speed and then speed it up so that the movement felt disjointed. A trick we recycled on ‘Step Back’!
I was really into the idea of each member of the band being represented by a primary colour, which Dirk magically made happen as he always does!
Talk
This was really fun to make. The whole clip is deliberately made to be like the terrible stock footage you see on karaoke clips. I wanted it to be as mundane as possible and for the locations to be as cliché as possible too.
Dirk, Mike and I all shot our scenes on the same day. The beach scenes were so funny to shoot, particularly the bit where I am sitting on the rock, as Al had pointed it out as a good spot to perch but just as I sat down, a massive wave came and soaked me from the waist down.
I didn’t have a change of clothes, so I had to shoot the rest of it half soaked, with wet undies on a cold day! The love story between Al and I is a continuation of the love story that began in the video for Bug Eyes.
Bug Eyes
Dirk and I shot this clip on the fly in one day! We took the same approach as we did for ‘Into My Arms’ and just did everything on the stealth. It was by pure luck that we managed to shoot a bunch of the outdoor footage right on magic hour! That wasn’t planned, but it ended up looking so great!
Step Back
Dirk and I made this clip in three hours – which makes me exhausted to think about now! A lot of people don’t know, but all my outfit changes are actually based on photos of front-women I adore. It’s kind of an homage to all the badass ladies who made me want to be in a band.
Dirk added the colours in the edit and I think that makes the whole video! We wanted the clip to be really vibrant and bold to match the empowering vibe of the song.
Feelings
This video was shot over three different weekends. The song is about moving past a heartbreak, so we wanted to tell the story of what it’s like to be in the places you shared with someone, after the break up.
It was a lot of fun to shoot as we were all together, randomly picking spots we thought would look good. It was shot all around Surry Hills and in Dirk’s apartment. The entire video was shot on Dirk’s Samsung Galaxy phone!
