Nakatomi
Adelaide band Nakatomi are doing some great things at the moment. The indietronic duo have released their brand new single Wooden Castle. Wooden Castle is a great example of Nakatomi’s ability to encapsulate retro pop vibes with impressively current production values. It’s like an 80’s pop track written for a 2017 audience!
The clip is also a winner – most would expect an 80’s inspired clip to go along with this song, but Nakatomi go for the unexpected and it seriously works. Taking inspiration from 1920’s cinema and directed by Tim Lucas, the clip incorporates projectors, puppets, and full-body costumes to tell the fanstastical story. The duo answer a few questions for Hi Fi Way: The Pop Chronicles about the single.
Great to hear another Adelaide band is doing great things, is it hard to keep a lid on the excitement with everything going on?
We like to get excited about everything we are doing, big or small, but it can be hard to hold onto music when it’s done sometimes. We are always so excited to show people as soon as a song has been finished, but there is a process for these things and patience is required!
What is the inspiration behind Wooden Castle?
It’s fundamentally about being pissed off and frustrated with a situation. We drew imagery inspiration from a red woods forest we visited in San Francisco earlier in the year, and also some dark motifs from Twin Peaks, which we had been watching a lot of at the time.
The film clip is great, where did the idea to go all 1920’s cinema come from?
That was actually completely the director Tim Lucas’s idea. He’s got a really creative mind, and when he pitched this idea to us we felt the 1920s feel complimented the darkness and theme of the music quite well.
Did you get to be hands on with the production?
Absolutely. We didn’t really grasp the full concept completely until the day, but it was literally us, the director and two friends of ours. Tim asked us all to source this massive prop list, and when we turned up with all this random stuff, he had also made hand held puppets and costumes and other neat stuff to use. Hamish got to wear the tree costume for most of the day, and I got to do the puppets and titles cards etc. The best bit was when we all had to lie on the floor throwing fake blood, guts and limbs in the air at the end!
How important is a good video clip these days?
It’s important to have additional content to help expand on the story the song is telling, and allow for people to connect with it on a different medium. So the more interesting the video the better we think.
Is there much you can say about the direction of the EP due early next year?
Ahhhhhh, no… hahahahaha it’s mostly under wraps!! We can say that we have done a lot of writing collaborations and worked with some great producers on it though 😉
Working in LA must be a great experience as well as collaborating with some big names?
Yeah it was pretty amazing, particularly working with so many different writers and producers on it, and having so many tracks to choose from. Hamish also got stung by a bee on the head the day we were recording a track in LA, so that was definitely an experience.
What are some of the things you have learnt?
Don’t go looking at window hanging bee hives whilst buying street tacos in LA.
Do have tequila and ice in the studio for late night writing and recording sessions.
Are there plans to play more shows over the summer?
Most definitely! Once our EP comes out early in the new year, then we will be back gigging again for sure.
What’s next for Nakatomi?
Finishing off the Sad Grrrls tour dates, then finalizing the song selection and mastering of our debut EP. We will probably do some more writing over the Xmas break too, as it’s always a good time to get some ideas down when we aren’t caught up in gig mode.
Interview by Rob Lyon