Music

Camera Music Visits Postdata in Paris

by Michael Joffe

Again in Paris. But at night this time. By the Canal St. Martin. Paul was playing a show at Point Ephémère with David Bazan and we had decided that we’d meet up and shoot some stuff around the venue and then later have a little party at my friends apartment and Paul would play some more music for them. The last time I think I had seen Paul might have been in Austin when I filmed a little piece with his other band, Wintersleep, also for Camera Music. Now we knew we had more time and I could devote an entire episode to this and it could all take place in Paris under all of its yellow lights. This would be good and relaxed and we’ll drink beers and wine and eat cheese – the way I like to shoot. I had wondered for a while what Wintersleep might sound like if everything was stripped away and we were just left with Paul’s voice and words standing all alone – that Wintersleep shoot answered that question a little bit and the release of the Postdata record made it clear: haunting and beautiful stuff. So we have the formality of the venue, the dark and grainy cold of the canal and the warmth and intimacy of my friends apartment.

Ali and Annie are two friends of mine that live in Paris and they have a beautiful apartment with big huge windows that face out onto a courtyard – I could stand out on that courtyard and film into their entire apartment. This was the cinematic moment that I was most excited about with regard to shooting Postdata. I wanted him to walk from room to room in the apartment while I filmed him from the outside – this is what we did for Drift. Meanwhile, the weird, vague and menacing lyrics of Paranoid Clusters seemed to belong in some of ambiguous and strange environment. The basement of their apartment is meant for storage and also was used as a servants entrance – it’s dirt and brick and stone and wood seemed to make perfect sense as a location for that haunted song.

Here’s something – the sequence of events as displayed in the episode is a complete lie.

Scott Cudmore