Playlist: Sam Pilling

Pulse Films director Sam Pilling has previously helmed promos for the likes of J. Cole, Elliott Power, Major Lazer, Two Door Cinema Club, SBTRK and most recently; the brilliant Nobody Speak for DJ Shadow and Run The Jewels. Now the director steps up for this week's Playlist.

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

One of my favourite videos from the last year was Leon Bridges River directed by Miles Jay. The track had so much emotion and storytelling potential in it and I thought the cinematography, approach, tone and message were perfectly executed. Big fan.

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

Is it too obvious for me to say UNKLE Rabbit in your Headlights?! I remember being at college and coming across the Director Series DVDs and that video absolutely blew my mind. And it clearly made an impression as I’ve gone back and re-watched it many times over the past few years.

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

This is a TOUGH question! I could never pick just one. But in no particular order I’ve always loved the following videos: Massive Attack – Angel, Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity and M.I.A – Born Free.

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

Music video wise there are obviously the greats such as Jonathan Glazer and Spike Jonze. Right now Daniel Wolfe is a big inspiration to me as a director who has made the transition from great narrative videos to feature films.

I mainly look to films for inspiration and directors such as Scorsese, Kubrick, Jaqcues Audiard, Ken Loach, Ulrich Seidl, Andrea Arnold, Jeff Nichols, David Fincher... (and the list goes on) are great influences on me.

Also the collaboration between Director Justin Kurzel and Cinematographer Adam Arkapaw has been pretty inspiring. From a photography perspective Alec Soth, Margaret Durow, Patrick Joust and Todd Hido are all great visual storytellers whose work I often look to for inspiration.

What are you listening to at the moment?

I’ve been slightly obsessed with Hell by Jordan Max. There’s so much emotion and feeling to his voice and lyrics. I can literally listen to it 20 times on repeat before I move on to another track.

I’m also a big fan of Jono Mccleery’s album Pagodes & Nao’s For All We Know

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

Ten years on, it still makes me smile that I can play music from my iPhone through my digital radio! Hahaha, it’s the small things I guess ;)

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

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

It would have to be Massive Attack or Radiohead. For many reasons! They make atmospheric, tension-filled music that has a lot of emotional space, melancholic feeling and light and shade.

Plus they’ve shown from their previous music video work that they are prepared to take risks and that they champion powerful, visual storytelling.

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

I can’t pretend it’s not tough. The process has got harder and harder with budgets getting tighter and labels wanting more input than ever before. Saying that, and given the challenges, there’s been a resurgence in creativity and there’s still really great work being made that continues to amaze.

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

I honestly don’t know! And I wouldn’t want to predict it, but I do think that over the past few years we’ve seen some really great collaborations between artists and directors: Hiro Murai / Childish Gambino and Vince Haycock / Florence and the machine come to mind as great examples. I think this is perhaps the way forward – hopefully artists will trust directors’ visions more and these creative partnerships will lead to some compelling, standout work.