The Band Explains: Marlin's Dreaming - 'Outwards Crying'
Marlin’s Dreaming’s lead singe Semisi Maiair speaks to us about the band’s visuals for ‘Outwards Crying’, which contrasts imagery of concrete buildings vs nature, and animals vs humans. ‘Outwards Crying’ is taken from Marlin’s Dreaming’s newly released album, ‘Quotidian’.
Where was the video filmed?
It was filmed in our hometown, Dunedin.
How does the video connect with the song?
Outwards Crying is a song about the urge to up and leave the place I grew up. A feeling not so far from the position we're all in today. In a lot of ways it's a really lovely city, but it can feel grey and inaccessible, so I wanted to capture it in its most honest way. From the livestock surrounding the city to the brutalist building rising from its centre. Although the shots are quite obviously not pretty, they are beautiful to me. Probably because there is a certain nostalgia in seeing everyday scenes from around my hometown, and being that I was moving at the time of writing the song, this video paired with the song is quite a bittersweet experience for me. Funnily enough, I'm back in Dunedin now stuck in mandatory isolation, so not too much has changed!
Could you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
The video is essentially creating comparisons the entire time. Concrete buildings vs Nature, Animals vs humans. It was interesting exploring different characteristics of animals the ways they express themselves next to people. We split the screen up into a series of three to help the viewers see all of these image side by side.
What do you hope people take away from watching the video?
We kind of hoped that the video might speak for itself and people would take away different things, like the song. For me personally the video is about capturing the real Dunedin. It's easy to sugar coata place and exalt it beyond what it is, but that's the attitude of the city. It's grey, cold, and can come across as inhospitable, but that's all a big part of what makes it such a beautiful place. I’m not sure how successful we were with this but we had a lot of fun experimenting with the video.
Interview by Karla Harris