Playlist: Delta Heavy

British electronic music production duo Delta Heavy have built up a brilliant and eclectic range of promos over the last few years.

Ranging from the stop-motion Get By, the 8-bit mastery of White Flag or their animated take on cult horror Pet Cemetery in Hold Me, the duo have no shortage or cool work to pick from.

Now the pair step up as our first musicians to let us know what’s on their Playlist.

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

Would have to be Radiohead Burn The Witch.  Not a fan of the track but love the video, especially as it reminds me of so much of the style, mood and aesthetic that we have looked for in some of our promos. 

It has a pretty dark, horror movie narrative plot but that is juxtaposed with the 80s Saturday morning kids TV stop motion style.  This marriage of light and dark is definitely something we would relate to in our promos, and the animation and look of the video has been captured perfectly. 

The nostalgic and familiar style of the video is given a great twist by the sinister content and that's what I love here.

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

It was almost certainly Michael Bay's epic Meatloaf video [I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)]

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

Blur Coffee & TV.

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

In terms of animation been heavily influenced by PES, especially with our promo for Get By.  In terms of music video directors we're big fans of Romain Gavras, So Me and Warren Fu, and in cinema Christopher Nolan and David Fincher.

What are you listening to at the moment?

Flume, Tourist, Tame Impala, Travis Scott, Floating Points

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

Audeze LDC-Xs headphones.  Basically like having a pair of mastering-studio-level monitors  that we can carry round in a backpack.  Being based in both Los Angeles and London, and constantly touring, these have honestly revolutionised the way we produce our music.

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

It would have to be Hans Zimmer, really one of our biggest inspirations.  Also Alva Noto, Flume, Skrillex, and Noisia.

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

Although we've always been faced with the same small, independent label budgets to fund our promos, on a wider scale there is definitely less money to go round in the music industry so even the major labels can spend less on promos.  Perhaps this has encouraged more ingenuity and less genericness.

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

Hopefully encouraging those who take risks, and have the courage to do things that are daring and different.  It's hard to tell quite how the music industry will look in five years given how rapidly things are currently changing.  One thing is a definite - all content will be streamed!