This is my first full music video for one of my all time favourite bands, Cornershop. I drew, photographed and animated every element of the video myself.
The Double Denim video comprises three main elements for me. For the first I took the track literally and used the durability of denim as a customisable material as my starting point. People often pin badges and sew patches onto denim to express their love for music or causes and sometimes even draw or spray paint directly onto it.
Secondly, Tjinder Singh expressed that he wanted a fictional band to be in the video, like the 60s phenomenon of The Archies, whose Sugar Sugar is covered on the other side of this single. So I created a 60s cartoon-inspired multicultural band called Heavy Duty who all wear denim. So far people have compared the band animation to everything from Hannah Barbera and Peanuts cartoons to Tintin illustrations.
Finally the idea of a couple having a wild night out was factored in, hence the night swimming scene and the crowds eventually watching the band at 3am, which then turns into a wild jungle.
I also included the imagery of a mural commission I'd completed for Tjinder two years earlier. That's the 'me and you' Fab Lolly and ice cream part.
The hand-drawn fonts are inspired by a wide variety of musical styles, just like Cornershop's music is. There's reggae style patches, heavy metal badges, 70s disco signs, and 80s keyboards and roller-skates.
The video was achieved by creating a large amount of drawings and illustrations - maybe 30 to 40. Each individual element was initially drawn by hand, photographed, then coloured and animated in Adobe Photoshop and Premiere. The backgrounds and textures were photos I'd taken of various items of denim clothing.