Playlist: Floris Kingma

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

When shooting a music video I always aim for enough development. The concentration span needs to be re-animated increasingly quicker. I’ve seen to many music videos that start off visually interesting or with a promising concept but quickly can not hide that… it was just that single "no matter how awesome" idea.

One promo that certainly didn’t need any concentration defibrillator is Igorrr - Very Noise.

Actually, I feel like I’ve had quadruple espresso just now.

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

The one that immediately comes to mind is a promo that gave me nightmares and sweet dreams: The Golden Earring - When The Lady Smiles.

The redhead woman was awesome for a boy in his pre-adolesence. She still kind of reminds me of Kelly LeBrock from Weird Science. Anyway, looking at it again it’s bizarre that in 1984 this Number 1 hit in the Netherlands was broadcast weekly on national television! And you thought that Smack My Bitch Up was controversial!?

In a later state and full adolescence, Smack My Bitch Up was right up my alley too as it has everything I like to see in a music video: momentum, concept, authenticity, edgyness and visuals that bring out the best in a killer track. For a director who started out shooting music videos for Roxette, Jonas Åkerlund turned turned to the dark side brilliantly! 

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

I don’t have an all time favourite. It’s like who’s the best guitarist ever: All the awesome ones have something. 

But while diving into the deep of music video history I came across a video that didn’t impress me at that time that much. I was just too young, and probably the song wasn’t really my style (I was more into heavy metal). But looking at Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer again and knowing how such a music video comes to life, I want to take my hat off. This explosion of creativity is mind boggling. 

Peter Gabriel had to lay down for 16 hours straight to make this piece of art. Thank’s for doing so Peter!

But there is an ex aequo; When shooting a music video, I know I’m not in it for the money. I’m in it for the stretch of the creative balloon I call my head. So basically all the budget goes to the execution and even then, my crew generally cooperates for less than they are used to for the love of music & creativity. Let’s just have some fun man!

As a result, I’m a fool for no-budget awesomeness. In this genre, Fatboy Slim - Praise you by Spike Jonze is thundermadness! Keep in mind that this single take music video is made before Jackass and Flash Mobs. Talk about being ahead of your time!

If there is one thing I’ve learned in my career, it's that making something good “Bad” is not as simple as it sounds. And what’s up with the lack of comedy in music videos anyway!? My favourite move? Hard to say… Is it the Tea Pot or the improvised Bug Step?

On top of this I’d like to share the origin of this music video: Spike Jonze had someone leaving a videotape in Norman Cook’s (Fatboy Slim) hotel room solely signed with “Love Spike”. It showed a guy weirdly energetically dancing on Slim’s hit Rockafeller Skank. Norman found the dancing hilarious and approached Spike to have this guy starring in his newest music video. Only later finding out that this absurdly bad dancer was... Spike Jonze himself.

And the rest is dance history: Spike Jonze personally played Richard Koufey, leader of The Torrance Community Dance Group and won a closet full of awards with a no budget music video. Many closets would follow…

What other directors/artists do you look for inspiration?

I actually never look for inspiration, inspiration finds me.

Recently, the movie High & Low (1963) by Akira Kurosawa bumped on my retina. 

As I just came home from a one year trip around the world with my wife and kids, I’m extra keen on simplifying things. High & Low and is a perfect example of how much you can take out and still be freaking awesome. Especially the first part of the film enlightens me on how ensemble staging can be so powerful and that cuts sometimes ruin momentum instead of bringing it. I’m pretty sure that Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite) had this movie on a loop. 

The funny thing is that before my trip around our little blue floating dot, I was obsessed with the extremely dynamic editing of Edgar Wright. What a trip around the world can do!

What are you listening to at the moment?

I’m currently binge listening a lot of podcasts and just finished the crafted Dolly’s America. Besides awesome insights from Dolly Llama and her pretty funny quotes (“You have no idea how much it costs to look this cheap”), it gives a great inside in the Southern States heritage.

As an outcome, I’m listening to her early work- with lyrics as dark as Nick Cave’s - and due to the background story of “I will always love you” I’m even able to handle that song nowadays. That alone was worth it!

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

My Transcriptor Transcriber; A record player I stumbled upon after a Stanley Kubrick exhibition. Being a vinyl addict, I was curious to find out the type of record player in Clockwork Orange.

Coincidentally I got my hands on this “vinyl aquarium”. It’s totally unpractical in use (it works reverse of a normal record player; instead of the needle passing the record, the record passes the needle. Say again!?) But the craftsmanship and audio love is heart-warming. Does it look good or what!?