A MIND EXPANDING DEEP DIVE INTO THE HUMAN INTERIOR
Made by renowned filmmaker Richard Bell (U2, Depeche Mode, Nirvana) and featuring the talents of local actors Sara Wiseman and Zachary Te Maari, ‘HERE’ is the first of two companion short films for Gramsci's recently released album The Hinterlands.
Comprised of three tracks from the album, the film's imagery was borne out of conversations between Richard and Gramsci's Paul McLaney during their drive through Lindis Pass on the way to film. A provocation was made for Paul to write three excerpts from various chapters of an imaginary book whose text would serve to stitch the three songs together.
"From this viewpoint, he could take in the whole crowded square. He was too far away to make out any voices, but the pantomime of activity was enough to engage his own thoughts; the imagined biographies of each person below. So many individual moments in the lives of every participant, that served to bring them all together, in this one. The chain of chaos and intent." – a narration from ‘HERE’.
The Hinterlands is an album focusing on the idea of the emotional, human interior - those vast landscapes within us all; territories of the self.
“There’s two movies; one’s called ‘HERE’ and one’s called ‘THERE’. The music videos that we have made are in resonance with the emotional intent of the music, and there is an artistic vision at the centre of it all. At its heart is the internal struggle for identity and purpose”, says McLaney.
It's a gorgeously delivered project, both sonically immersive and visually expansive, set as it is against the dramatic and incredibly beautiful backdrop of Central Otago.
This is no fickle, throw-away 15 minute short.
For those who care to indulge, it is a thought-provoking, epic exploration into calm self-awareness and self-actualisation, with music blog Ambient Light declaring that ‘HERE’ “offers the viewer a rich and valuable space for mindfulness and contemplation.”
McLaney expands, saying “That’s the intent. When you are sitting there staring at a mountain, you’re not really thinking ‘mountain, mountain, mountain’, you’re thinking about something else in your life. You are just using that still space to access a calm response.”
“I hope with the film, and each music video, that there is a sense of contemplation and the empathy of struggle; you know the empathy that everyone is dealing with stuff. And that’s the thing about those calm shots where I’m looking out across various vistas – you never know what’s going on in someone’s mind. From a distance, someone may look utterly tranquil. The naked eye can’t tell the difference between a prayer and a thought.”
Now three decades into his musical career and having gone through many different stages, McLaney believes that he has evolved into a more fully realised musician.
“I feel that The Hinterlands and this visual extension of it, is what I have been trying to make my entire life. I am ready to pull out all of the stops now. I’ve arrived and I’m ready to present it all.”
The second short film, ‘THERE’, will be ready for release in late May.
Watch GRAMSCI'S ‘HERE’.
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