Behind The Scenes: MY PHONE
Tommy Saint returns with the melodic banger “My Phone”, supported by striking visuals from Ilan Lampl, Rafael Ramirez & Ethan Lodge. Out now with a first look from Complex UK.
Interview by Audrey Lai | 28/06/22
Tommy, what inspired this song?
Being tired of answering to people.
This melodic track departs musically from your previous high-energy rap releases. Tommy, could you tell us more about why you switched things up this time around?
I’ve just been making a lot of different-sounding music recently, experimenting with my production and vocals. It’s never a conscious decision to try and make something “different”, it’s just what ends up happening on the day.
Ilan, I heard the finished music video deviated from its original idea – take us through its concept development and the changes that the film underwent.
Yes, originally the concept I came up with was a lot bigger in scale to what ended up becoming the final product. Often times when first thinking of ideas, it makes sense to think big, but with budget constraints, you inevitably have to scale back. Because of that, I kept the core of the idea the same, but made it more abstract for it to make sense to myself.
Shooting on-location in the middle of the forest at night, what were the main hurdles you had to overcome, Ilan?
The main obstacle whilst shooting this video was time. As we’d been shooting for most of the day, by the time we did the night scenes, it was important to work efficiently. Time management in itself is an art form; keeping things moving whilst not rushing talent or putting unnecessary pressure on crew members is a balance you have to keep. When things do run over, you have to do the best you can with the situation – make a new plan and stick with it.
Tommy and Ilan, you guys have worked on a few projects together now – have you honed in on your unique collaborative voice and style? How would you describe it?
Tommy: I don’t think it’s something we’ve tried to cultivate; a natural style has just sort of developed. The fusion of Ilan’s distinct ideas and my on-camera performance style has led to what we see now. We share a similar taste and our mutual understanding of how best to execute the project often goes unspoken.
Ilan: I think the work speaks for itself. It’s always just been about making something true to the sound.
Further on collaboration, do you guys have a formula figured out for what works best on a shoot, or do you approach each music video differently?
Tommy: No two shoots are ever the same. Every song and video needs to be approached with a clean slate and exist on its own terms rather than be compared to previous work. Having said that, Ilan and I can’t help the constant discussions on the comparisons between our videos. But of course, we’re getting more familiar with each other’s workflow and have developed a nice pattern. Ilan and I are both very big on improving efficiency and streamlining the process to constantly iron out any issues that we recognise. So yes, there is definitely a sort of formula.
Ilan: I don’t think we’ve figured it out. Each video requires its own respective process depending on the concept. Hopefully, we never “figure it out” because it would probably get boring quite quickly. The most awesome thing has been growing as a team: we’ve had the same producer and DOP – Rafael Ramirez and Ethan Lodge – across five consecutive Tommy Saint videos, which is unique in itself. Keeping a tight-knit team has allowed us to get into a flow quicker and has made for a great journey.