Playlist: Bear Damen

What’s the best promo you’ve seen recently and why?

PTA’s Daydreaming hasn’t really been overthrown, but if that’s not recent enough, I think it’s probably MGMT’s When You Die by Mike Burakoff & Hallie Cooper-Novack.

What’s the first promo you remember being impressed by?

 It’s probably Hype Williams, Sophie Muller or Romanek. The moments I saw those music videos sort of blurred my mind. I couldn’t clearly tell which one made an impression on me first, but I remember seeing Muller’s Venus As A Boy by Björk as a very young kid on MTV. I felt so much - straight through the heart. It’s mainly the song, but it’s also the eerie quality of those 50’s Technicolor close-ups.

Still from Björk's Venus as a Boy

And what’s your all-time favourite music video?

 Well, it changes every day, but right now I’d go with another Muller vid: Say It Ain’t So for Weezer. I grew up with the Director’s Bureau generation (Glazer/Jonze/Cunningham/Romanek/Gondry etc.). But I often gravitate towards Muller’s videos, mainly because they’re often very plain and pure. The video is just the band in their actual rehearsal space, and I can really see and feel who they are.

What other directors/artists do you look to for inspiration?

I watch everything I can. I listen to as much as my time allows me. I like all films, not only ‘good’ cinema. Satoshi Kon has a big influence on me - so are Takeshi Kitano and Kubrick. 

Trailer for Kitano's Hana-Bi

What are you listening to at the moment?

A lot, it’s mega chaotic these days. genre-wise. I have been listening a lot to Badbadnotgood, Lemon Twigs, 03 greedo’s Never Bend was an obsession the other day, Legowelt’s re-issue of Dark Days is back in the routine, heaps of Japanese 80’s funk and Anime soundtracks, Midlake’s Antiphon album, Aphex’s Selected Ambient Works and other Ambient comps are always haunting nights of work.

What’s your favourite bit of tech, whether for professional or personal use?

 I’m not big on tech in a professional way (or maybe not yet). I like analog things. But hey, I love video games. I love my 3ds and my Switch. I will definitely be rocking the latter when the Dark Souls Remaster hits stores. FromSoftware’s Dark Souls games are pure heroin to me. 

What artist(s) would you most like to work with and why?

I’d love to do a video for The Lemon Twigs. They’re definitely the real deal, it’s like when Neo got Kung-Fu installed, but they’ve had the whole Woodstock line-up installed in their brain at age 14 or something. Also: John Maus and Kanye.

How do you feel the promo industry has changed since you started in it?

Quite a little, Vimeo became bigger, making talent more visible than the last decade. Which is a great thing. Hip-hop exploded even more, it always was big, but now it’s just insane. 

Music videos have had a resurgence of late; where do you see the industry being in five years’ time?

I hope the claim within your question is true. I don’t know but I hope people will see that videos are not only a tool to stay relevant every month. It can be a firm pen stroke channeling a vision, a statement or an averment influencing the whole generations.

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people won’t know…

I don’t know, most people won’t know anything about me. I’ve produced analog electronic music under the ‘Magnesii’ moniker amongst others.