The Band Explains: The Riptide Movement - 'All I Ever Wanted'
The Riptide Movement speak to us about their poignant single and visuals for ,‘All I Ever Wanted’, which threads a love story through raising awareness for the homeless crisis in Dublin.
Where was the video for 'All I Ever Wanted' filmed?
The video for 'All I Ever Wanted' was filmed in Dublin, it took one day to film and most of it was shot around iconic Dublin streets and landmarks like Temple bar, Grafton Street and the Ha' Penny bridge but some of it was also filmed in our home town of Lucan in County Dublin around Catherine's Park and Sarsfield Park.
How does the video connect with the song?
The video and song are really two parts of the one story, they fit hand to glove and actually not long after writing the song I had this idea for the video as well, it's a love song about a guy who asks the love of his life to marry him in Dublin on Christmas eve and the lyrics depict that day. With the video I wanted to highlight the homeless crisis here in Ireland and in particular my home town, Dublin, I wanted a video that showed our beautiful iconic city in all its glory but also showed the reality of the homeless crisis here and I felt this song would be the right soundtrack for the visuals for this story, so, for the video I based the narrative around a guy who lost the love of his life and basically he is so heartbroken and can't cope that his life falls apart and he ends up homeless on the streets of Dublin, he's caught within different universes and timelines, between his homeless reality and the happiest day of his life when he proposed to the love of his life.
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you could share with us?
Well it's the first video that I wrote, directed, produced and edited, so it's a video I feel really connected too, it was filmed by Mich Behan and Andrew Ascough, who really captured some beautiful footage, Christine Hopkins did a fantastic job on the Costume, Hair and Make Up and Ger McGarry our bass & Harmonica player was also part of the crew that helped make this video.
The real strength of this video is in the acting though, I really think Stephen Doring and Caitriona Ni Threasaigh are outstanding in this video and the acting and chemistry between them is so powerful and the feedback we've got since it's release has been great, we have received lots of messages from people who said this song and video has genuinely moved them to tears. it's a testament to their fine performances, Stephen was always the actor I had envisioned playing this role, he also stars in our videos for 'All Works Out' and 'Changeling'.
Can you tell us about the ideas/themes/imagery used?
The idea was to highlight the homeless crisis here in Dublin not through facts and figures but through the human cost and tragedy of homelessness and I felt this love story could do that and I also think it shows us that no-one is immune, no matter if we have a good job , have a mortgage or rent our own homes, all it takes is a major incident or setback to derail us and without a support network like family and friends to lean on, we're all only a few pay cheques from the street and from being homeless, that's how I see it.
It's got themes of love, heartache, happiness, loss, hope and loneliness, it's a story that's true to life and one we can all relate too, the imagery is quite beautiful also and iconic, it's a credit to Mich and Andrew the camera men, it's well shot, really colourful and captures Dublin City in all its glory on a beautiful day in December.
Is there a message the video is trying to convey?
#endhomelessness
Interview by Karla Harris
’All I Ever Wanted’ is taken from The Riptide Movement’s current EP, ‘Something Special’.