The Band Explains: Secret Shame - 'Dissolve'
Photo credit: Ben Jordan
Dark post-punk/goth outfit Secret Shame talk us through the concept behind their engrossing single and music video, ‘Dissolve’ which explores the themes of feeling trapped in your head and concealing yourself so no one knows what you’re really feeling.
Where was the video for ‘Dissolve’ filmed?
Lena: In my mom’s living room and bathroom in Asheville, NC. I had been watching the house for her while she was out of town.
How does the video connect with the song?
Lena: Dissolve is roughly about being so good at concealing yourself, that no one thinks to ask if there’s anything wrong. The imagery is beautiful, the song is upbeat, but nobody in the video is smiling. Nobody’s really feeling anything.
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you could share with us?
Lena: I didn’t expect this to turn out the way it did. I had been working on the storyboard and set design for a different video for months, and then it fell through so I was really discouraged. But Dissolve was about to come out so I figured, I’ll just get my friend Rory to make a video for it, and it’ll be whatever, we can just make it up as we go. Maybe it’ll turn out alright. But when he got there he was like, “okay, where’s the storyboard? What’s the concept? You’re the director, tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” And I was like oh shit I actually need to be prepared for this. Pretty sure I did the storyboard the next day.
Rory Rumfelt: I think the best behind the scenes stories come from when we were filming the solo shots in the dark room, it was the bathroom in Lena’s moms house, and it was sort of like an interrogation. We would sit people down in a pitch black room and shine bright lights in their eyes.
Filming that stuff was pretty memorable only because it was the first stuff we filmed, so everyone was still laughing and fucking around and that’s always more memorable than the perfect takes. “Disturbed” lyrics, jokes about juggalos, and beige tape helped to hold the whole shoot together.
Lena: That’s true, we really did just glue flowers to everyone’s faces and be like “okay, now look directly into this bright yellow light, and show less emotion.” Unrelated, I think I spent two days drawing that giant spiral with sharpies.
Can you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
Lena: I just thought about what this song looks like when I close my eyes. And what colours are there? It was just flowers, and these dewy, sparkly flashes of texture. But still very cold. Because it isn’t a happy song. Honestly, the video looks exactly how I thought of it at that moment. I think my bandmates saw how excited I was about conceptualising music videos, and they were kind of like yeah, we trust you, do whatever you want and tell us when to show up. So I thought about movies, and what makes great movies so great…For me, definitely the aesthetic. Vibrant. Disorienting. There are subtle colour differences in the solo shots, because everyone's mind works differently. Bright red to dark blue is mood swings. We covered everything in flowers and colourful lights, but everyone is still sad, annoyed, and uninterested underneath it. Like how it feels to put on a smile at a funeral.
Is there a message the video is trying to convey?
Lena: I’m very interested if people will get the message, or think it’s just, some visually pleasing video that lacks meaning. I could easily see why anyone would think that. It really depends on whether or not people decide to read the lyrics. I was trying to convey how it feels to be trapped inside your own head, when there are serious things you need to get off your chest, but you don’t think anyone will hear you. I would hope that people watch it and think about themselves. Think about what they’re hiding, what they need to talk about. It’s not an embarrassing thing to reach out to people if you’re feeling mentally unwell. You’re not a burden.
RR: The only thing I want people to take away from the video is that they should get their friends together and make one themselves. If we could film a video with construction lights and sharpie, you can, too.
Interview by Karla Harris