The Artist Explains: NUUXS - 'SPF'
NUUXS talks us through the personal meaning and symbolism behind her beautiful, hand painted animated music video for euphoric, disco pop anthem, ‘SPF’, which visually pays homage to the culture that raised her.
How did you come up with the ideas to animate SPF?
It wasn’t the original plan to animate the videos at first. In fact the day before we were told to go into lockdown was the day I was supposed to shoot my music video with a whole glam squad, director and photographer all booked in. We all decided to cancel until we knew more and so that’s how I came across Charlie Cross who had these incredible ideas for my music. We discussed what the songs meant and how they could reflect the music.
How does the video connect with the song?
SPF has images of Laos which is where my father is from and Japanese influence where my uncle migrated to and now lives in Tokyo with my cousins. I wanted to pay homage to the culture that raised me and also I felt the imagery of heat related to the song in a way that was very personal to me. When Charlie Cross showed me the fish scene I was amazed because it just reminded me of the Mekong river and all the grilled fish we would eat at home. It also is a love song to encourage one to love with full passion and we wanted to demonstrate that through the Japanese woman as a symbol of strength and her ability to love unconditionally.
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you can share with us?
The only ones I can say I’ve had are the FaceTimes with Charlie as we’d talk about what imagery could represent the music and also the process of his hand painted animation. He’s an incredibly unique artist and I love that he includes me as much as possible in the making of it. We have a little WhatsApp group where he sends the drawings before any colour is added and it’s great to see.
Could you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
As I mentioned earlier it has a lot of personal cultural influence as well as the added detail of the beating heart representing love, the pineapple being sliced in half and turned into a cocktail mirroring the holiday lyric. Of course we had to have the parasols thrown in for good measure. It’s a fun, quirky interpretation of who I am as an artist and also very entertaining-to watch.
Is there a message the video is trying to convey?
It’s a song to remind us that although love can be scary, it is also strength, self love, love for a friend or partner it’s good to show up to the people you care about and love them with your whole spirit.
Interview by Karla Harris