Music of Aotearoa: past, present and future

It’s that time of the year again – NZ Music Month! And Show Me Shorts is celebrating that by accepting NZ music video submissions free of charge for the whole of May. Rebekah Ngatae from the Show Me Shorts team has also selected three of her favourite local music videos for us to watch here.

Making a great music video is very similar to making a great short film, and that’s something New Zealanders excel at. The creators of these three great music videos will transport you through the lands of our ancestors, reveal a delightful cultural niche, and land you in a strange and wonderful dystopian future.

Trinity Roots – Little Things

In this video for Wellington band, Trinity Roots, locally renowned music video director, Chris Graham, transports us to the early 20^th Century. Venturing into the past of a man with a long history on the very estate he sits via the powerfully emotive face of the late, great Wi Kuki Kaa, not only are we presented with personal memories of those he loved and lost, but the video is also nostalgic for a simpler time. Ultimately, the video resolves that while people may have come and gone and modern technology may have set in, it’s evident that some things never change as we’re still working hard providing, entertaining ourselves and enjoying the company of our loved ones just as every generation before us did.

Artist: Trinity Roots

Director: Chris Graham

Coco Solid – Heaven’s Gate

In this next video Auckland musician, Coco Solid, takes us to a world that may seem foreign to a lot of people even though it’s right here in New Zealand and it’s right now. Solid’s electronic Heaven’s Gate provides the perfect soundtrack for her short documentary of an event she considers to be “one of, if not the most important social event in [her] circle” – the Fafswag Ball.

Prefaced with insights from some of those in the fa’afafine (transgender) community that are set to participate in the night’s competition, this is essentially a dance battle with the love turned up to 11. The outfits are bold, the choreography is intense and the audience’s enthusiasm is infectious so it’s no wonder the event is described as “freeing.”

Be warned: This video may too great for some to handle.

Artist: Coco Solid

Directors: Coco Solid and Carthew Neal

Fat Freddy’s Drop – Ray Ray

Like the Little Things video, the creators behind Fat Freddy’s Drop’s Ray Ray music video contrast the present day with another time in a way that is also wonderful, but much weirder. From the familiar rural weatherboard town along a wall of ponga beneath an uninterrupted sky, we’re thrust into a dystopian future that is equal parts steampunk and an amplification of our 21^st Century digital age – a contrast also present between the methods used to create this wee masterpiece.

Once you’ve watched this great video through, I suggest checking out a little of what went on behind the scenes to see what I mean. It seems metal sculptures and digital animation was a winning combination for the team at Perceptual Engineering who received a tonne of accolades for this video.

Artist: Fat Freddy’s Drop

Directors: Jon Baxter and Armagan Ballantyne