You Say Party’s Video For “Underside” Is A Gorgeous Tribute To Studio Ghibli

The Canadian indie-pop veterans explore Japan for a fantastical travelogue.

April 22, 2016

You Say Party are veterans of Canada's pop scene, and they're in the midst of releasing a new video for every song off their latest self-titled album. Their clip for “Underside,” directed by Jeremy Rubier, is sure to be a highlight. Fashioned from a deep love of Hayao Miyazaki and his legendary animation group Studio Ghibli, “Underside” achieves a fairy tale atmosphere without so much as a single No Face. The gorgeous drone shots are a big part of that, as is the mysterious journey our pint-sized protagonist takes around Japan, visiting a variety of shrines.

ADVERTISEMENT

Rubier gave us the rundown on the video's influences and inception via email.

ADVERTISEMENT

The music videos is inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s classic movie Princess Mononoke, and, in general, Studio Ghibli’s movie universe. The melody made me think of a trip outside the classic cities where kids grow up…it’s the theme of most of my project.

I discovered the Slovakian DOP by looking at drone videos online, and he happened to have a child with his Japanese wife. We chose his son as main actor, his wife was the producer and we traveled 4000km around Japan, shooting at the most iconic location that inspired Miyazaki’s movie.

The main forest is at the end of our trip, in Yakushima, where the oldest tree are said to be 7000 years old, mixed with a forest in the same area that inspired the movie Laputa. At the end, people may recognize a little reference to the show Mushishi, one of the most underrated Japanese animes. The first Tokyo location (especially with the red lantern is inspired by the village of Spirited Away). I, as director, have shot around the world but it’s in Asia that I love to shoot the most. It is here that I want to attract American/European artists to shoot more music videos.

You Say Party’s Video For “Underside” Is A Gorgeous Tribute To Studio Ghibli