The Artist Explains: No Middle Name - 'Fading Photo' (Video)
We speak to David Bailey of No Middle Name about his new single and music video 'Fading Photo'taken from his forthcoming second LP.
The new album marks the follow up to his debut self-titled album released in October 2013 and was recorded in a home studio over the course of 2 years. No Middle Name says this was just simply a long love letter to indie music."No big statements are being made here, it’s just music I loved making and hope others do too".
David Bailey Explains:
The footage is from the 1943 film 'The Gang's All Here'. It's the dance routine right at the end of the film, and it has absolutely no relevance to the rest of the movie! It's totally bonkers and I love it even more for that.
How do you feel the footage compliments the song?
Personally I think it fits really well, not only in the way the dance sequences build as the track does, but also the words are about the fading memory of a past love, and not only is the film obviously from a time long past by, but that way of making films, using huge sets with hundreds of dancers, all filmed in one take with no computers is also a fading, if not lost art I think. But maybe I'm over thinking that! ha
Did you play around with different ideas for the video before finding the right fit?
It was completely serendpidous as far as I'm concerned. I had finished the album a couple of months ago and then spent a bit of time making two videos for potential singles which will be released later. Everything was ready to go so I thought. I happened to see a documentary about the choreographer and filmmaker Busby Berkeley and started going through his films in the evening times. I was watching 'the gang's all here' when this routine came on at the end. It blew my mind and I suddenly wondered if my track 'Fading Photo' would fit as it seemed the about same length. I lined it up so the end chord change of the song hits just as the kaleidoscope section happens and it just seemed too good not to use it. Although I did edit out the singing flying heads that happen in the original as it kinda broke the spell, but is worth seeking out the original to see it!
Tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery in the song?
The words are about the fading memory of a lover in someone's minds eye. although musically the opposite is happening, it's a simple chord sequence that repeats over and over with more parts being added until it climaxes with a chord change and lots of lovely noise
What do you hope people might get out of watching the video?
To feel like they are in a dream, or at least find out a bit more about Busby Berkeley as I credited him at the end of the video in the hope that more people would discover his work.
Interview feature by Karla Harris