Playlist: Dean Karr

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

I don't know that I've seen many "recent" music videos but if I had seen something cool in the last eight years it would have to be Rammstein - Deutschland, purely for production value, cinematography, production design, wardrobe and FX. 

I usually love anything they do!

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

When MTV premiered I was 16 and they played a lot of metal, so it was my first time seeing all my favourite heavy bands come alive for the first time. I had only known the personalities of my fave bands through album artwork and metal magazines like Creem, Hit Parader, and Circus. 

I'd rush home from school and park myself at the neighbours house because they had a big television and no parents telling them to turn it down. 

Anything Iron Maiden, Motorhead, AC/DC, Judas Priest or Saxon caught my eye!

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

The Plasmatics - The Damned, melted my teenage mind! They only made one Wendy O. Williams.

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

Directors: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Werner Herzog, Ridley Scott, Coen Brothers. 

Photographer: Joel Peter Witkin, Gilles Berquet, Peter Beard, Jan Saudek. 

Painters: Hieronymus Bosch, Francisco de Goya.

The work of true Surrealists always inspires this artist!

What are you listening to at the moment? 

My life's playlist is on a constant repeat of Black Sabbath, Buzzcocks, Sleep, Joy Division, Judas Priest, Nazareth, UFO, and Mark Lanegan.

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

I've been using a "light" touch of Topaz Photo AI to put a finishing touch on all my still photography and it just brings everything together nicely. Sharpening, facial retouching, text clean up, or upscaling. I will be using it for my film work in the next few months to upscale all of my music videos. 

Most videos from my era look like crap on Youtube due to needing upscaling, so it will be nice to be able to do this at home and post optimum looking versions of my work for the fans out there.

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

I'm enjoying my semi retirement these days, but I always thought it would be cool to work with Interpol, purely for the respect I have for their artistic integrity. I'm Directing my third video for dear friends Ministry next month. It takes a band like that to get me excited to jump up and get back behind the camera.

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

Can I swear on here??? I'm always grateful to have had the chance to surf the monster wave for 20 years! We made huge videos for huge bands in far away fantasy locations I'd only dreamt of going to. 

Starting around 2010 budgets started shrivelling and by 2014 we got the entire rug pulled from under our feet. Every video commissioner and art director at the labels got canned and labels closed. 

The majority of my friends all worked at the record labels and everyone who lost their job had to get super creative on figuring out the new game plan, some got their real estate license and many had to move back home with mommy and daddy. 

This being said, I think we can skip the next question...

Where do you see the music video industry being in five years’ time?