Mellah on How his Run-In with a Soldier Inspired Round

South London indie musician Mellah, aka Liam Ramsden, has had a busy year releasing music and helming three of his own promos. He tells us about the autobiographical inspiration behind his work and how Guinness and goodwill helped him realise his vision for his anti-war track Round.

What inspired you to start directing videos for your own tracks?

I’ve made videos for my music for quite a while, but only recently had the opportunity to release them on a platform where they have had enough reach to get any acknowledgement. Visuals around music can be very powerful; the partnership helps to convey the mood or message of a song more vividly than a song alone.

What inspired Round?

The basis for the song was a run-in I had with a former soldier I encountered in a pub while I was on tour with my old band. He was a pretty unhinged guy who had obviously experienced some horrific things while serving in Afghanistan. He fervently believed we needed a stint in the British army to set us straight.

The song came directly from that encounter so I thought it apt to base the video around it. The white lady represents the dark side of his psyche; the side of himself he struggles to face. I wanted the video to be sympathetic towards the soldier but also follow the song’s narrative of attacking the damaging reality and futility of war.

Tell us about the shoot.

We shot the whole video in one evening, mostly in a London pub. The landlord was very accommodating and let us use his place for nothing. He also catered to the crew’s relentless thirst for Guinness.

We also shot some bits in the park opposite the pub and an undisclosed wooded location in southeast London, although that was definitely the most harrowing part of the shoot. We got there about 2am in mid-winter and had to lug all the gear, including lamps and a generator, about 200m through mud to where we were shooting. It doesn’t sound too horrendous but when no one’s getting paid and you’ve been going since 5pm, you start to wish you had a budget. Once we set everything up and powered the generator, the projection lighting didn’t turn on. We spent two hours trying to fire them up while our dancer, Mai Nguyen Tri, curled up in the van beneath a blanket. We’d pretty much conceded defeat and thought the scene would have to be lit by a lamp – which would’ve been nothing like the polkadot projections – but then the projectors suddenly started working. It’s my favourite scene in the promo and Mai’s performance was spellbinding to watch.

I’ve never done anything on this scale before so I was lucky to have some very talented friends on board to realise my vision. My DP, Ruben Woodin Dechamps, was integral to the process. He has an amazing eye and he carried us to the bitter end.

“I find a lot of similarities in the creative process. It’s a case of knitting together material, whether that’s sonic or visual, to make a collage of textures that hopefully ends up as a whole.”

What have you learnt as a director and how does it differ from being a musical artist?

I find a lot of similarities in the creative process. It’s a case of knitting together material, whether that’s sonic or visual, to make a collage of textures that hopefully ends up as a whole. I rarely have an idea of how the finished product will end up before I start.

I think the best creation comes when you’re not thinking; you’re just making. If I sit and think too much about what I’m going to do or how I’m going to do it, I get anxious and start analysing everything before I’ve even made it! You have to just begin. Once you’re rolling, you’re rolling and even if you sew in a patch that you don’t like in retrospect, you can always sew in another around it or over it. It’s important not to hold onto things, to let the process take over.

Are you keen to continue directing? What’s next on your agenda?

Yes! I’ve got some money from a record deal to buy a 16mm camera. I have a few ideas for some short films and I want to be part of the video-making process for all future Mellah videos.