The Band Explains: Verse Metrics - 'My Name Is Dr. Hildegarde Lanstrom and I am Quite, Quite Mad'

Glasgow four-piece Verse Metrics talks to us about the concept behind their introspective single and video, 'My Name Is Dr. Hildegarde Lanstrom and I am Quite, Quite Mad'.
Combining alternative, post-rock and math rock influences, 'My Name Is Dr. Hildegarde Lanstrom and I am Quite, Quite Mad' is the powerful  first single taken from the band's new EP 'We'll Be Listening And Remembering Until We're Old And Unsteady', out now via Lonely Voyage Records.

Verse Metrics Explains:
Where was the video for 'My Name Is Dr. Hildegarde Lanstrom and I am Quite, Quite Mad' filmed?

The video was filmed in various locations in Scotland - Irvine beach, Loch Ard, Greenock, Largs, Pollock Park, The Arlington Baths Club and our own practice room in Dalmarnock.

How does the video compliment the song?
 The song is about inner struggles, about committing to challenge yourself and searching for calmness and clarity. The video was designed to reflect this without being too literal - a lot of the imagery in the lyrics is reflected in some way in the video.

Any behind the scenes stories?
For the woods scene (where I find the signpost with the EP title and main song lyric) I asked my dad if I could borrow his spade to dig a hole for the post. When I collected the spade he told me it was my grandad's spade, over 70 years old, and to take good care of it as it was obviously of sentimental value. "Don't lose it or do anything daft with it" he said. "No problem, I'll take good care of it" I reassured him.

When we went arrived at the woods it was pitch black, and I could hear lots of dogs barking. Stuart (who shot the video) informed me the police dog training centre was based in the park we were in, and considering we probably shouldn't have been there at that time of night the idea of police dogs roaming about wasn't that comforting. As soon as I started digging I hit a plastic bag, and I was convinced it was going to be full of teeth and fingertips (this is Glasgow after all), so I started digging in a different spot! We got set up and shot the scenes without any police dogs finding us and headed home.

The next morning I was walking into the kitchen to make breakfast and saw the signpost leaning against the wall. I realised that although I had tied a plastic bag to the bottom of the post where it was muddy from being in the ground I didn't remember wrapping the spade in a plastic bag, although it would also have been muddy. I thought to myself I surely wouldn't have left it in the woods, but put on a very old pair of trainers and went down to the car to check anyway. Of course there was no spade, and my heart sank. Options were to tell my dad I had lost it, or go back and explain to a policeman why I was digging a hole in the woods in the dark. I drove straight over to the park and got the spade back no bother, but I did have to spend the full day at work with a suit and old trainers on.

Could you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
In terms of themes and imagery, the first theme that came about was shafts of light. We shot the band first, and Stuart had suggested the idea of having us swaying in and out of a shaft of light. We continued this theme with the torch and headlights, and tied this in with the searching theme of the song.

I have two favourite scenes in the video. At Loch Ard I walk across the jetty towards the lake, and across the lake there is a small boathouse/shelter. There is such an expanse between where I am and where I am looking towards, with no obvious way of getting there as the bridge/jetty stops. The second is walking into the turbulent sea at the end with the flare. The sea represents life and challenges, and me walking into it holding up a distress signal signifies meeting these challenges head on.

What is the message the video is trying to convey?
The video is trying to convey a message of calmness and persistence, of accepting and meeting challenges.

Interview feature by Karla Harris