Puma Blue Goes Lo-Fi With "(She's) Just a Phase" Video
We talk to the singer heartbreak and being influenced by ‘Lost in Translation.’
You are reading your free article for this month.
Members-only
Having previously described him as “Jeff Buckley meets downtown jazz meets J Dilla,” it’s fair to say that Puma Blue is definitely one of the rising stars on our radar. Now, the London-based artist has released a video for his latest single “(She’s) Just a Phase” and we have the premiere for the charmingly lo-fi visual.
We spoke to the musician about how the song and the concept for the video came about. Find out what he had to saw below and watch the video above.
What was on your mind when you made ‘(She’s) Just a Phase’?
A few years ago I became close with a friend at a time when we were both in a bad place, and for a second I thought I was falling in love. I was angry with myself for feeling broken up about it and complicating our friendship. I knew we weren’t right for eachother so instead of being sucked into this black hole, I had to tell myself it was just a phase, falling in love with the idea of someone or their ability to comfort. I didn’t really love her. Spare her, spare yourself, get over it.
How did you decide on the concept for the video?
What I realised after writing was I was just using this longing as a distraction from other problems – they hadn’t gone from me. I wanted the video to feel like one drunken, long, hazy night unfolding – seeking something and just never finding it. There’s a girl who comes and hangs out but when she wises up to the dark cloud over my head she dips and I carry on the night alone into the morning. We were influenced by the German film Victoria, and Sofia Coppola’s Lost In Translation, and these 90s garage-scene videos a friend showed me.
Did you visualise the video as you were making the song?
I didn’t, but I had a dream the night I finished the song. I was playing this strange version of the song and drowning really slowly into a pool, and she was levitating above the water, unable to hear the more I sank underneath. I guess that video would have cost more to make.
In other London-centric music news, check out the latest drop from Krept & Konan.
