The Artist Explains: Merival - 'No Brakes'
Merival speaks to us about her kooky visuals for waltzy experimental folk song, ‘No Brakes’.
Where was the video for 'No Brakes' filmed?
We shot it in director Max Parr's apartment in Toronto. He has a gorgeous loft with windows and cool decor, it worked out perfectly.
How does the video connect with the song?
I think it's kind of fun that the sound sounds very carefree but topically addresses some dark stuff, and then the video is me approaching a pretty ridiculous activity quite seriously. hard to know which way is up or what any of it means!
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you can share with us?
Yes, actually! We would have loved more shots of me in the balloon but we actually busted a leaf blower - like, it straight up just stopped working - and then we scrambled around looking for a replacement, and the two others that we tried weren't tough enough to actually fill up the balloon. It was really thick and sort of painful to get into! I wasn't expecting that we'd burn out a heavy-duty piece of equipment.
Can you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
Well, we wanted it to look very dreamy with the slow-mo and also have a sort of official vibe, what with the tailor and all. the mid-section where the balloon is being 'made' is one of my favourite scenes because it's pretty trippy; I definitely wanted it to be weird, and Max got really creative with it.
Is there a message the video is trying to convey?
Not really! it was just a fun idea Max had. it's not really thematically connected to the song as far as I know, and I'm more than fine with that. I notice a push to create meaning out of absolutely everything, especially when you're a small-time artist putting out press releases; sometimes it's really just not that deep. why not make something weird and fun for fun's sake? isn't that partially what it's supposed to be about?
Interview by Karla Harris