On My Radar: Christian Larson

What’s the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?

My favourite campaign from the last few years is Mercedes-Benz’s Valet Guys, directed by Pantera. It’s such a brilliant concept, following a group of valet guys at a restaurant and all the mischief they get up to with the cars they’re parking — with the punchline being that this era is soon over because a Mercedes can park itself. The film is perfectly crafted: brilliant casting, beautiful car footage, snappy editing. More than anything, it elegantly blends luxury and humour, which I’m always drawn to. I’m jealous, really. I would have loved to make that one.

What website(s) do you use most regularly?

ChatGPT, YouTube and Auctionet, which is a slightly worrying portrait of my brain. ChatGPT has basically become an extension of my notebook and a creative partner — somewhere I can test ideas both in writing and visually. YouTube is still the greatest archive of strange content ever assembled. And Auctionet is for buying things from the 1980s that nobody in my family thinks we need.

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought?

A new MacBook Pro. Not a very exotic answer, but I’m old enough to remember when an edit bay and a music studio required completely different setups. I like to remind myself how incredible it is that one machine can now be an edit suite, recording studio, darkroom and office — and come with me wherever I go. Every year I take a dedicated music trip somewhere in Europe, travelling by train and making music as I go. Sitting on a high-speed train with headphones on, watching the landscape fly past while making music is one of the most inspiring experiences I know. The fact that you can write, record, produce and finish something on one machine while travelling at 300 kilometres an hour still feels slightly miraculous.

What product could you not live without?

The wardrobe essentials from my brand, CDLP [above] — underwear, socks, T-shirts. It’s what I wear every day and what I always travel with. They’re the simplest things in my luggage, but probably the most important.

What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?

Sirāt. It reminded me that cinema doesn’t always need to explain itself; sometimes it can just physically affect you. The sound, the landscape, the rhythm, the faces, the sense of danger — it all becomes one thing. I also love any filmmaker brave enough to let music genuinely drive a film rather than simply decorate it.

What film do you think everyone should have seen?

The Madonna documentary I’m Going to Tell You a Secret, directed by Jonas Åkerlund. It’s an incredible piece of craft and, for me, one of the most stylish music documentaries ever made. The editing, photography and musicality of the storytelling are pure excellence.

What’s your preferred social media platform?

Instagram, still. As a visual person, it’s my window into what photographers, filmmakers, artists and designers are making all over the world. My feed is currently pretty full of AI accounts, and while there’s obviously a lot of crap coming out of it, there are also some incredibly talented visual makers using the technology with real elegance and creativity. When it’s done well, some of the work is genuinely astonishing and opens up completely new visual territories to be inspired by.

What’s your favourite TV show?

At the moment, The Agency, with Michael Fassbender. It’s beautifully crafted, the performances are fantastic, and it’s completely addictive. I love anything that creates a universe you immediately want to disappear into.

What’s your favourite podcast?

The Diary of a CEO. I love listening to highly competent people nerd out about something they’re deeply passionate about. I’m endlessly curious and love learning new things, and the podcast has introduced me to a lot of useful ideas and perspectives I probably wouldn’t have come across otherwise.

What have you been most inspired by recently?

An AI artist called @Gezuz777 who made an MTV Cribs spoof with Jesus. He shows off his mansion in the sky, skateboards through the clouds and fills his swimming pool with holy water. The whole thing has this brilliantly trashy millennial fisheye aesthetic, but with amazing cinematography, production design and attention to detail. It’s completely ridiculous and incredibly well made. If I had a production company, I’d sign this guy on the spot.

If you could only listen to one music artist from now on, who would it be?

Bob Marley. His music is timeless, rhythmic, soulful and somehow keeps revealing itself — I still discover songs in his catalogue that suddenly become favourites. My wife has Jamaican heritage, and it’s what we listen to on Sunday mornings at home, and I love the idea of my kids growing up with that music around them — feeling the passion, warmth and extraordinary musicality of it.

If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?

I wish we weren’t so bombarded with content that hook rates, thumb-stop rates, and for which the first second has quite as much power over creativity. I find data genuinely fascinating and it can tell you incredibly useful things about how people respond to work. But I think there’s a danger when the data stops informing the creative process and starts dictating it. 

If everything has to scream for your attention immediately, you lose some of the possibility for seduction, atmosphere, restraint and storytelling that unfolds over time. Some of the work I love most doesn’t necessarily grab you by the throat in the first second — it draws you in. And in this enormous sea of content, I think genuinely great work sometimes deserves more of a chance than whatever your thumb happens to decide in that particular moment.

Who or what has most influenced your career?

Jonas Åkerlund [below]. I started my career editing for him, then assisting, so I essentially learned filmmaking by sitting next to someone who had very little respect for the idea that there was a correct way to make something. He taught me speed, instinct, commitment and that taste matters more than rules. Probably most importantly, he taught me that you can take the work extremely seriously without taking yourself too seriously.