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Music

Premiere: Krakatau Bring a Heavy 70s BBC Vibe On Their New Video/Short Film

The Melbourne prog trio create a stunning short film set in the Macedon Ranges.

At first there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot going on in the video for Krakatau’s “Riddells Creek”. Three guys dressed in various shades of beige stand in a park and jam a meandering prog instrumental. It’s the kind of scene where young mothers would summon their children to come back and away from the strange men.

But stick with it and the video, directed by Krakatau’s James Tom who shot it using two old Ariflex 16SR3 cameras evolves into a hypnotic short film with cinematography that captures the colors of the Macedon Ranges in autumn.

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“Riddells Creek” is taken from the Melbourne trio’s forthcoming album Water Near a Bridge that will be released soon on Chicago label Trouble in Mind.

We caught up with James to learn more about the process of shooting the video.

Noisey: Krakatau’s pieces don't fit the usual three-minute music video format. How did you approach the video?

James Tom: The band footage was shot with two cameras live over several takes of the music piece and then cut together with the final take. Then we went back to Riddells Creek and surrounding areas of Mount Macedon and shot the cutaways on a limited amount of remaining film stock. It was my first encounter with 16mm film and overall turned out pretty well consider the problems that can occur with exposure etcetera. You can probably tell I was very into Tarkovsky and Italian high modern stuff at the time too. Ha!

Did you face many challenges of recording the track in the park?

Just the limitations of 16mm film and the weather. It was ten degrees, which made performing outside very difficult for me and our bassist Charlie. Playing in time is difficult when you can hardly feel your fingers.

How did you scout the location? It seems perfect for the song and the historic railway bridge adds a nice tie to the past.

Oh man, that was one of the most stressful parts of the process. There were lots of Google searches and day trips with my girlfriend at the time to find the right spot. The Mount Macedon region was an area I had always liked. It has a darker more naturalistic element that while seemingly a little more European is totally Australian. I always liked the eerie Australia of Weir's Picnic At Hanging Rock and wanted to catch something similar. Australia isn't only a red country.

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The Ariflex cameras have also helped to give it a 70s BBC feel. Where did you score them?

I was studying film at Swinburne and one of our teachers was an old-school camera operator. He had connections with Panavision who would lend him equipment that he in turn let Swinburne use. I guess it was a lucky situation, especially with the school's move towards more digital based technologies and reproach towards us using the 16mm equipment.

Do you have any plans on any more videos for songs from the album?

The video cost more than the actual album to make (ha!) and was a big project for me so probably not. But we've almost finished recording our next record maybe something for that. Hopefully this video holds visual interest for a while at least.

Krakatau launch ‘Water Near a Bridge’ in Melbourne July 4 at Hugs & Kisses.