The Artist Explains: Terouz - 'Outstanding'
Cairo born Montreal based artist TEROUZ (Karim Terouz) speaks to us about his boxing inspired film-noir visuals for swaggering electro rock single, ‘Outstanding’.
Where was the video for 'Outstanding' filmed?
The Video of Outstanding was filmed in the now permanently closed, Michel Morin boxing gym in Joliette, Quebec.
How does the video connect with the song?
Images of boxing giants and rocky montages were flashing through my head while I was writing the song and going for runs up the Mont Royal hill. I met many times with DOP/friend Tarek Gharzouzi to talk about my ideas of creating a music video for the track while keeping it in a film-noir frame and mood.
Some weeks later, Tarek sends me a picture of a boxing ring (single cover art) located close to the production house he works at.
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you can share with us?
The director jumped in himself as the tattooed opponent facing our protagonist.That's multitasking!
Could you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
The idea was simply to showcase beautiful black and white imagery while having some aspects of boxing elements. You'll find there is not much stress on who wins or who loses, just a steady and subtle storyline that at the end demonstrates the will to keep going strong.
Is there a message the video is trying to convey?
’Outstanding’ is an attempt to comfort anybody who is feeling overwhelmed. A reminder that faith, fire and fight can be found no matter how dark the night. I hope it can be a source of inspiration to anyone going
through hard times. To know that things will get better and that hard times never last, they merely fade to become a thing of the past.
Interview by Karla Harris