Playlist: Kayla Monetta
We chat with Squeak E. Clean Studios Director of New Business Kayla Monetta about crate digging via YouTube, Miranda July's brain, and competitive basketball.
What’s the best music video you’ve seen recently and why?
A friend of mine recently told me to check out Jess Williamson - Time Ain’t Accidental and I’ve been watching the video every day for the past week. The video was shot in one take on a road outside of Marfa, Texas in the middle of a storm.
It’s a super simple video with Williamson singing to the camera, but it’s beautifully shot and captures lightning at eerily appropriate points of the song’s lyrics. Really proves that a great song can be showcased even more by a simple video.
Credits
powered byWhat’s the first music video you remember being impressed by?
Oh man, I have so many… It would probably have to be the video by Madonna - Frozen, directed by Chris Cunningham. I was obsessed with this album growing up (and it’s still the only CD that I play religiously in my car).
I remember watching this video as a kid and trying to re-enact Madonna using a blanket over my head dancing around my living room. This whole album is iconic but this song and video are at the top of my list.
Credits
powered by-
- Production Company Black Dog Films/London
- Director Chris Cunningham
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Unlock full credits and more with a Source + shots membership.
Credits
powered by- Production Company Black Dog Films/London
- Director Chris Cunningham
- Post Production The Mill/London
- Producer Nicholas Wrathall
- Producer John Payne
- Director of Photography Darius Khondji
- Editor Gary Knight
![](https://d17mj1ha1c2g57.cloudfront.net/v1/lsoQiTPlzU_kI62M0T0KcQIqJpM/1024x576%23/80/shotsmag/production/clips/294e681a-9a2b-4861-9acd-f29a524b6a8f/1687514693509.jpg?v=1&quality=80&format=jpeg)
Credits
powered by- Production Company Black Dog Films/London
- Director Chris Cunningham
- Post Production The Mill/London
- Producer Nicholas Wrathall
- Producer John Payne
- Director of Photography Darius Khondji
- Editor Gary Knight
And what’s your all-time favourite music video?
Hands down it is Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar directed by Michel Gondry. Another simple video, made to look like a continuous shot of a train ride (but actually edited to sync up perfectly with the music).
It’s a music video that captures the feeling of seeing your life like a movie, the greatest music supervision gig of all.
Credits
powered by-
- Production Company Partizan Midi Minuit
- Director Michel Gondry
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Unlock full credits and more with a Source + shots membership.
Credits
powered by- Production Company Partizan Midi Minuit
- Director Michel Gondry
![](https://d17mj1ha1c2g57.cloudfront.net/v1/-4AxCw7e97s8-pnqXV2IboFXWVQ/1024x576%23/80/shotsmag/production/clips/ae6c669a-2176-48b4-9f12-7dd7e973c043/1687515305693.jpg?v=1&quality=80&format=jpeg)
Credits
powered by- Production Company Partizan Midi Minuit
- Director Michel Gondry
What other directors/artists do you look to for inspiration?
The list goes on, but I really love the composer Emile Mosseri’s work. I think his scoring is beautiful and he really understands pairing sound to picture in a modern and interesting way.
The score for Kajillionaire has been on repeat for three years in my house.
What are you listening to at the moment?
Heavily listening to Woo right now, which happens every time the sun comes out for the past few years of my life. I’ve also been playing Margo Guryan’s album Take A Picture on repeat as well. I listen to a lot of scores, and lately I am obsessed with composer Luiz Bonfá and his wife Maria Toledo’s album, Braziliana.
What’s your favourite bit of tech, whether for professional or personal use?
YouTube for music discovery… there are so many rare gems on there that don’t exist on streaming platforms. It’s the 2023 version of crate digging.
What artist(s) would you most like to work with and why?
Miranda July. I am jealous of her brain.
![](https://d17mj1ha1c2g57.cloudfront.net/v1/fUjdOdfp8knSn5k1zRUjz67ruOQ/1280x/80/shotsmag/production/clips/3f4702d1-6a8f-48f5-8051-3a8b75626ac5/screenshot-2023-06-23-at-11.17.59.png?v=1&quality=70&format=jpeg)
How do you feel the promo industry has changed since you started in it?
My first jobs in the music industry included writing music video premieres for VICE, and eventually creative directing music videos at a record label. It was very cool, but also very depressing to be on both sides of that world.
The amount of work that goes into a music video for it to be pitched to a website by a publicist for a spot to live on a homepage for up to 24 hours only is depressing! This aspect has changed since music video premieres no longer hold the weight they did in the early 2000’s “blog” days, video budgets at labels are cut due to low ROI, and a number of journalists at these websites are now laid off (sorry I am depressing!) In this sense, it has changed a lot in terms of exposure and reach.
In spite of all of this, I think the quality of music videos has grown exponentially and there are so many incredibly talented independent directors out there making beautiful work. It’s been interesting to see music video and film directors taking on more advertising work in order to make a living. I think that this has indirectly influenced the art of the music video since they are now seen as passion projects.
Where do you see the music video industry being in five years’ time?
I hope that we will see more “short film” style music videos. Lord knows every new Euphoria-adjacent television show is essentially one long music video in of itself.
Tell us one thing about yourself that most people won’t know…
I played competitive basketball all throughout high school.