Melbourne chillers Smile have just released the video for their track “Blvd” which comes across as more a piece of suburban cinéma-vérité than it does late night Rage.
Directed by Smile’s Max Turner (who is actually lying in the backseat during filming) it features Mark Mitchell, best known for playing Con the Fruiterer in 80s sketch comedy program The Comedy Company, driving around on a wet Melbourne day with his two sons Rhys and Lewis.
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Listen closely and you can hear the scrappy melody of “Blvd”, the A-side to their new 7’ on Smooch Records, playing on the car stereo while the Mitchell’s wax philosophical on Melbourne weather and compost.
We dragged Max out of the back seat to find out more about the shoot.
Noisey: How did you come up with the concept?
Max Tuner: I’ve always loved driving scenes in movies, like the bit in Wild At Heart where Nic Cage reveals his dark past to Laura Dern while “Wicked Games” plays on the radio. Heaven. I liked the idea of a video like that, that’s not about the song at all, just dialogue with diegetic music.
Were you afraid that the conversation would detract from the song?
Nah. People have been talking over music videos since Pat Benatar made “Love is a Battlefield”. Even Beyoncé does it. People love Beyoncé.
Was it scripted or improvised?
It wasn’t scripted at all. I’ve known the Mitchell family for many years. All seven of them live in a big house in Brighton and they spend most of their time trying to make each other laugh. I asked Mark, Rhys and Lewis to do the video and I think the only direction I gave them was to be less funny. We did eight takes and this one was my favourite.
Is the story about burying the neighbours dog true?
Mark, patriarch and Australian icon, can tell a story better than anyone I know. He once told me a story about dressing in lederhosen and pretending to be German so he could sneak food across the Russian border during the Cold War. He also has a blog where he reviews perfumes. I believe everything he says.
Whose idea was it to have Con the Fruiterer nursing a bag of fruit and veg?
I showed up at the Mitchell house to shoot the video and when I asked Mark if he wanted to be in it he said, “Yeah sure, I have to go the market anyway…” He walked around for an hour and half buying groceries, getting nods from all the old market dudes. When we got back in the car he was holding the bag of vegies that wouldn’t fit in the boot. I thought it would add a touch of realism.
“Blvd” is out now on Smooch Records.
