The Band Explains: Boss Rush - 'Happy Fucking Whatever'
Punk Rock duo Boss Rush talk to us about the importance of appreciating the good things in life and the themes of anxiety and depression that run through their clown and birthday party themed DIY music video, ‘Happy Fucking Whatever’.
Where was the video filmed?
The video was filmed at a family member's house. We're glad they let us shoot there, especially considering the title of the song has "fucking" in it and we push a kid to the ground.
How does the video connect with the song?
This song represents all the external factors in your life that bring you down and cause the anxiety and depression that we all feel from day to day. It also celebrates the one constant positive factor in our lives —- each other. No matter how shitty things get, we always have each other and our music. The phrase "Happy Fucking Whatever" actually came from a gag birthday balloon. We thought it was a great expression for how we feel. This balloon is featured on the single artwork and will be featured on the cover of our upcoming album release in September. The visual of the balloon inspired an idea for a birthday party setting for the music video. The idea of us being clowns and having the awful task to entertain kids represents the pressures of having to have a job and responsibilities in order to earn money and live, which cause us anxiety and depression. The ending of the video, where the clowns meet together after stealing the food, represents the constant joy in our lives — each other.
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you can share with us?
It was easily 100+ degrees that day. Maintaining the clown makeup was a nearly impossible task. We only had a 4-hour window to shoot everything, and it was a very tight shoot. Luckily, we planned everything thoroughly, but it was an exhausting day of being beaten down by the sun, setting up & breaking down the set, and wrangling young kids. The kids had a blast though and really enjoyed being mean to us.
Could you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
The main theme of the video is life can suck but appreciate the things that don't suck. You can have an awful job like being a birthday clown being forced to entertain kids, but make sure you cherish and nurture the good things in life like being married to your soulmate or eating free birthday cake.
Is there a message the video is trying to convey?
Hopefully, the theme of appreciating the good things in life resonates with viewers. At the very least, we hope people are entertained with the light-hearted and fun atmosphere we tried to create, and we get a few chuckles from the people watching and that they dig the song. We had a blast shooting the video, and we hope it shows.
Interview by Karla Harris