Behind the Lens: On the Set of Skaters' Video for "Miss Teen Massachusetts"

Behind the scenes - on the set of Skaters' video for "Miss Teen Massachusetts." On a nut-shrivelingly chilly day in December Noisey decided to crash Skaters' "Miss Teen Massachusetts" video shoot. Onset, inside a Brooklyn convent that was abandoned some thirty plus years ago, time stands still—rickety school desks face blackboards faintly marked with chalk and puke green vinyl chairs retain the imprints of asses that are probably as saggy and sad as the mattresses in the barren upstairs bedrooms. In one room the New York based band are huddled around a heater while singer Michael is tucked into a sleeping bag on the linoleum floor, trying to keep the cold at bay. Grace, who plays a mentally disturbed beauty queen wannabe is having her hair teased up and bouffed out, prepping for her big pageant reveal. In the final cut it's a hazy, hallucinatory moment that instantly recalls the mascara smudged cover Hole's album Live Through This.

This is Chilean/American director Danilo Parra's third music video with Skaters, but it's the first to actually feature the band themselves, who in this narrative appear to fill the roles of psychiatrists at a mental institution for girls. As you might guess, all's not quite as it appears.

As for the song itself, where previous Skaters singles ("Deadbolt", "I Wanna Dance (But I Don't Know How)" possess a Clash-like swagger, bristling with melodic angst, "Miss Teen Massachusetts" finds the foursome hitting that powerful sweet spot between punchy pop and plaintive emotion. Listen to the lyrics—it's hard to shut the door on something and walk away.

But this isn't about Skaters really. As is traditional with Behind the Lens, this interview is about the director. Hey Danilo! Sup.

Skaters - "Miss Teen Massachusetts."

Noisey: How did you get into directing music videos? What was your first one?
Danilo: I got into directing music videos because of my love of music and my love of visual storytelling. The first 10 student films I did were all told with zero dialogue and were only told visually and I liked how they turned out so I continued this and it brought me to music videos. The first one I think I did was for Odessa Chen, a singer in SF who gave me $400 to make her a video.

Tell me a little bit about your shoot for Vybz Kartel's song "My Crew." That's your most widely watched video, right? Was this video was shot while you were covering a bigger story in Jamaica? How was that experience?

The Vybz Kartel music video came about because Vice Records was putting out a vinyl of his album and they wanted us to shoot something for it while I was in Jamaica. We ended up in Portmore to shoot something about the dancehall music scene and found muraled walls covered with Kartel's image. While shooting the murals, about 20 kids approached us and wanted to show us everything in their neighborhood and they also shared stories with us about Kartel. These kids were all pretty much brought up by Kartel so they had a strong personal connection to him. So we said, "Wanna be in a Vybz Kartel music video?" Sure enough they were down and we had about 40 extras and an amazing location to make it all happen in. Then, we realized that all of these kids make dance hall music. So we did a video for Tusson, one of the up-and-comers, which I ended up liking the most.

Skaters - "Armed."

Which music video from your back catalogue are you most proud of and why?

The music videos I'm most proud of are the ones I'm doing now or next. The past isn't as exciting as what's happening now. I'm a little new age though. But if I had to pick one that I think turned out the best, it would be Skaters' "Armed." It's a video similar to Kartel's in that it was set in a neighborhood controlled by the star of the video, Dope, who gave us all the extras we needed to create the narrative that I wrote up. In return, I did a music video for him with all of his friends. I think that helped to gain trust with one another. Dope and all his friends ended up being the most amazing actors I had worked with. Very natural. [Watch Dope's video for "Whistle" here.]

This is your third video with Skaters. How did you get involved with them and what is it that appeals to you about them/their music?

Firstly, I like every member of the band. They are really driven and talented guys who are very down to earth and have a super funny humor. They are great to hang out with. They also seem like quintessential Boston/ East Coaster in their manner, except for Josh, the guitar player, who comes from the UK. I also make music—really bad stuff—and I have heard the stuff they make on their own, separate from the band, and they can all make amazing songs and clean sounding tunes, which impresses me. As a band, if they have a new song I haven't heard, I can usually predict that they will have amazing production value with compelling lyrics. I'm not kissing ass, It's just true.

How did you come up with this narrative? What sources were you drawing from?

This narrative came about while talking to the band about what they don't want. I guess a few other directors, including me, pitched a more love story concept that the band was trying to steer away from. Also, Mike, the singer, doesn't care to be the center of attention and wants the whole band featured with equal amounts of camera time so I had to work with that. I sent a late night text concept to Josh about an all women mental institute that the guys play doctors in, and he loved it. So after a few conversations with my grandma—who is a psychologist that's dealt with many of these mental illnesses—and after watching a few documentaries about these conditions, I had a better idea of what will happen and how it will happen.

Did you discuss the lyrics with Michael much in relation to the visuals?

I had the lyrics sent to me from the band's manager, but usually the lyrics don't command the narrative for me. It's more the overall vibe of the song. It was a little happenstance that the lyrics had meaning to the narrative though. I can't take credit for that.

How did you find that convent in Brooklyn? So creepy! What was it like shooting there and indeed the experience of the shoot itself. It was so cold when I stopped by.

I found the convent by knocking on a few church doors in Greenpoint. To my surprise, I got a call back from one of the church representatives who handle film shoots, and they gave me a few tours of different locations. This convent was perfect though and we knew the second we walked down those empty halls that the place already had a narrative to it. Shooting there reminded me of behind the scenes footage of the filming of The Shining, my favorite movie. The eeriness was there, the coldness was there, and we even found some hidden safes in a room behind paintings that added to the suspense. I wished that the music video had a more horror aspect to it after seeing the place.

Skaters: Josh, Noah, Michael, Dan.

Who do you look up to in terms of inspiration: filmmakers, artists, otherwise?

If I could wake up in the shoes of Andreas Nilsson or Dougal Wilson, that would be pretty incredible. I like my shoes, but I hope to walk next to theirs one day. These two guys represent everything I love. They have the humor, they have the darkness, they have the visual storytelling skills to the max, and they are true passionate artists it seems. I'm also a huge fan of the A$AP MOB and the confidence they have and the brilliant music that they make.

Who would you like to shoot a music video for next, in an ideal world?

I have a big dream this year of working on a video for A$AP Rocky and A$AP Ferg and that dream has already started to come true. I just collaborated with Rocky on a shoot last weekend which is gonna be pretty powerful/controversial. I hope I'm allowed to say that. But now I gotta get Ferg! I grew up listening to mostly hip-hop, since my brother makes it and forced it upon me. I'd also like to work with Connan Mockasin too. He's pretty out there which I like. He also seems like a spiritual leader kinda guy which I think is important. The artists I like the most seem to be communicating something deep. It's hard to know what it is, but there is something there for sure.

What are you working on right now? Are documentaries/music videos/feature films your primary passion?

I'm wrapping up the Rocky video soon I hope, and I just finished a few skits for Skaters that will be released up until their album drops. I got to act in one of the skits and I also got my friends Hamilton Morris, Allen Ying, and Patricia Mera in them as well. They should be coming out soon. Speaking of Hamilton, I have two more documentaries to finish editing with him and a possible trip to New Zealand for a new episode of Hamilton's Pharmacopeia. Wish me luck.

Noah looking creepy, Noah showing off his socks.

Josh and some foliage.

Dan getting tackled.

Skaters' debut, Manhattan, is out via Warner Bros on Feb 24.

Skaters Tour Dates

2/25 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom (Album Release Party)

UK

2/27 Bristol The Exchange

2/28 Birmingham Hare & Hounds

3/01 Leeds Cockpit 2

3/02 Nottingham The Bodega

3/03 Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut

3/04 Manchester The Deaf Institute

3/04 London Dingwalls

3/06 Southampton Joiners

US

3/18 Santa Ana, CA Constellation Room

3/19 Los Angeles, CA Satellite

3/20 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill

3/21 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios

3/22 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern

3/25 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge

3/26 Kansas City, MO Czar Bar

3/27 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry

3/28 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge

3/29 Columbus, OH CD101 Show

3/31 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop

4/01 Cincinnati, OH Revival Room

4/02 Pittsburgh, PA Altar Bar

4/03 Washington, DC Rock and Roll

4/04 Philadelphia, PA Boot & Saddle

For more interviews with directors and photographers go to .

While lurking around this video shoot Kim enjoyed an array of chips and ate them all enthusiastically. She's on Twitter - @theKTB