Locations in Indie Folk Music

It is a common convention in well established indie artist’s music videos to use a dramatic and stark location, often this includes a distant land such as that in Ben Howard’s beachside ‘I Forget We Were Here’. Such a location creates an element of awe and distance from everyday reality. However, some artists use more mysterious and unrecognisable locations, such as that in Daughter’s ‘Youth’. The video is set in a large black room where only a spotlight is used to separate the performer from the space around them.

Locations in Post-Punk and New Wave

Unlike more modern indie and folk artists, many early new wave artists used run-down, bland and plain locations in their videos. For example, Joy Division’s ‘Love ill Tear Us Apart’ takes place inside an old abandoned building, reflecting the band’s bleak sound. Similarly, The Cure’s ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ is set in what one presumes to be a studio environment with merely a bed sheet behind the boys starring in the shoot. Similar to Daughter’s video for ‘Youth’, it is almost the lack of location that makes the action on screen seem more important. In addition, a sense of mystery is created, as the subjects on screen seem to be removed from the world we recognise ourselves in. Undoubtedly Elle Mary is influenced by post punk as well as indie rock, as one can hear from her use of overdriven bass, melancholy chords and skittering drums.

My Location vs. Other Artists

On the one hand, the abandoned RAF base in Sculthorpe where I filmed my music video contains the dramatic element that is present in the locations used by popular indie folk and rock artists like Ben Howard. Although the locations is not glamorous, it is stark and unorthodox, making it a perfect setting for Elle Mary’s moody indie folk ballad ‘Rose’.

On the other hand, I have also experimented with less dramatic and more plain locations during some of the flashback or daydream sequences. As I mentioned before when discussing The Cure, the lack of a distinct location enhances the audience’s attention on our actress Annie and actor Jacob in the shots which use a plain white background. The backdrop creates a sense of separation between the reality of the abandoned RAF base and the tortured daydream-esq memories Jacob has of his past with Annie.

Finally, I feel the abandoned location we have used is also an effective intertextual reference to Joy Division’s location for ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, suggesting that my setting not only reflects the New Wave genre, but also the mournful lyrics and nature of one of Joy Division’s biggest hits.

Costume in Indie and Folk Music

Neutral milk hotel (live) Kate Rusby (live) Daughter - Youth Bob Dylan – Tambourine man

It is common for indie and folk musicians to dress plainly and in understated clothes, often wearing black, white and grey rather than vibrant secondary colours. This could be due to the stripped back and simple nature of folk and indie music, or perhaps it is so that the music remains the forefront of the artist’s presence rather than their clothing or style: In this sense, the costume of folk and indie musicians is a rejection of the marketization of identity and style in pop music today.

Influences in costume in my video

Daughter Front-woman Elena Tonra frequently dresses in simple and colourless clothing, making her clothing a good basis on which to create my actress Annie’s costume. I chose to use a plain grey t-shirt and some black jeans to reflect the Tonra’s look, and to prevent hypersexualisation, as I feel it is more effective to use a progressive costume in my music video and follow the convention of simple clothing in indie music.

My main actor Jacob’s blindfold is the most important part of his costume, as it is reflective of his physical and emotional blindness; he cannot rely on his vision to guide him but he is unable to escape his mental prison without the guidance of Annie, his muse. In addition, the blindfold acts as an effective reference to Japanese prisoners during WWII (images on the left depict prisoners being escorted from submarines in 1944). The reference enforces the idea that Jacob is imprisoned in his own mind, whilst also subverting the trope of the male action hero throughout the media.