Playlist: Jillian Iscaro

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

It’s not that recent but I love the A$AP Rocky - Tailor Swif video. 

It’s so visually layered; insane amount of choreography and I love long shots. It feels like a weird dream you have during an afternoon nap, and then you wake up feeling like you got hit by a semi.

What’s the first music video you remember being impressed by?

When I was a kid, my grandpa gave me a VHS of Michael Jackson’s video greatest hits. I watched it over and over but some of the ones that stood out were Beat It, Thriller, Remember The Time, Billie Jean and Rock with You.  

I’ve probably watched Beat It and Remember the Time over 100 times over the years.

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

All-time??  The first video that came to mind was The Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be directed by Michel Gondry.  It’s such a cool blend of practical and digital VFX, blending time and space, and being really playful. Mundane slices of time disrupted by dance. Who am I? Who will I be today, tomorrow, the next moment?

It kind of takes the block universe approach to something as simple as waking up. Feels like you’re trapped in a four dimensional möbius strip.

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

The amount of talent out there is overwhelming. I feel like every time I open my phone I get to see new, exciting, insane work from other people, but I have so many talented friends and take a lot of inspiration from them too, not just in work but in life. 

My friend Mickey Todiwala is an amazing street photographer and documentary filmmaker, he really has an eye for meeting people where they are. My friend Celeste Khosravanlou is like a walking Pinterest board; it seems like her wardrobe is never ending. 

My friend Tamika Abaka-Wood has this really cool hotline project called Dial An Ancestor; we’ve actually collaborated with our other friend Tina Snow who is an awesome DJ to make some video art projects for it. 

My friend Mariah Winter makes these amazing food videos that are like these weird reflective diary entries. I’ve been watching my friend Nick Iluzada grow as an illustrator for the last 20 years.  I’m continually inspired by people who want to make things for the sake of making things.

What are you listening to at the moment?

Honestly mostly citypop and anime theme songs haha. Mariya Takeuchi, Taeko Onuki, Anri, Kaoru Akimoto, Laufey, Magdalena Bay, Maye, Shonen Knife, Arooj Aftab, Mclusky, Queen, The Supremes, Grandia II OST, Yoko Kanno and Joe Hisaishi always.

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

I don’t think I have any cool gadgets. I co-own an Aaton XTR, that’s probably my singular favourite possession. Maybe my glasses because they allow me to see, does that count?  I’m interested in brain organoids but I don’t have any (yet).

ABOVE: The Aaton XTR camera.

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

I would love to do an animated music video for Yoasobi. Maybe Magdalena Bay. Doechii. All for different reasons.

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

I think the industry was in the middle of changing drastically when I started, so it feels like a continuation of that. But everything is faster, shorter, more cyclical.  I’m getting a lot more requests for vertical only shoots, and the AI is beginning to trickle in…  It feels like a fork in the road. Do I become a grumpy luddite or embrace the change? I think I’m still in survival mode and mostly open to what comes my way, but there is a limit. I don’t want to dig my own grave. The budgets shrink while the expectations increase (haha). The pendulum swings. I run a lot of my projects through my own production company so sometimes I think I see more than I would like to, but it also gives you a lot of freedom.  Some of the more traditional or gatekept avenues for work are opening up; there are a lot of interesting opportunities, perhaps it’s a bit chaotic at times. But I still like it.