The Artist Explains: Dameer - 'Believe'
Rising star Dameer talks us through the visuals of his latest jazzy number ‘Believe’ - with the track showcasing his abilities as a songwriter to blend sharp synths with an explosive drumbeat to create some addictive hooks.
Hey the Dameer, how are you? So your new track ‘Believe’ is out now - can you tell us what it is about?
Hi! I’m feeling great, especially now that the song is out! I wasn’t feeling too great when I wrote it though. Believe is about romantic PTSD. It’s when you come out of a horrible, toxic relationship and can’t help but have that whole relationship flash in your mind when you meet someone new. It stops you from committing, it makes you painfully indecisive. After you get that feeling a couple times you just become completely nihilistic about love. You doubt anyone at all can fill that hole in you that the last person left.
With the track comes a rather arty style video - how does this connect with the song?
Wong Kar Wai’s “Chungking Express” was the stylistic inspiration for the video, he’s an absolute hero to both me and director Adam Sinclair. It’s a must-see movie, one of my all-time favorites. The goldfish, the step-printing, the neon lights, the white singlet, that’s all Wong Kar Wai. I think what reminded us about Believe is the way Tony Leung sulks and pines over his ex, how he wallows in romantic nihilism. The video shows these vibrant, fleeting vignettes of the main character remembering a relationship after it’s all over. He re-lives all the best and worst bits simultaneously in a dramatic, neon-drenched Hong Kong fever dream. It takes inspiration from that romantic limbo I was in, but it also exists independently as its own story.
What locations were used in the video?
We mainly shot in Pudu and Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; two places that had that distinct Hong Kong vibe that we were looking for.
Any behind the scenes stories from making the video you are happy to share with us?
Our DP Nicholas Chin is a total badass. Every tracking shot you see wasn’t filmed on a car or a trolley or anything like that, it was Nick on a segway with an ARRI Alexa strapped to his body moving at frightening speeds. The man is more agile on a segway than I am on my feet, it’s insane. The BTS footage itself is shot by none other than Yuna (iconic Malaysian singer-songwriter), who is married to the director. We were waiting in a car while Adam was fixing a shot outside and she actually played us a demo of an unreleased song, which was definitely one of my highlights of the whole shoot. We have shot loads of BTS footage so pop by my socials and drop a follow to see them when they’re up!
Now this track is out there, what next for you?
The next song, and then the one after that, and so on. At the same time, I also want to take a deep breath and appreciate how far this song has come. When I wrote it I was going through a very rough time, and I wasn't even doing music professionally. To release it at this scale, to have a beautiful music video made for it by one of the biggest directors in Malaysia is a level of growth I would have never anticipated as an angsty heartbroken teenager a few years ago. I'm gonna take some time to be grateful, and then keep moving forward!