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This week we are invited back into the mind of a musical genius, Billy Lloyd, and are given the world’s first exclusive look at his latest music video – ‘Whatever’.
Vada: How did you select the projections used within your music video?
I knew I wanted images of war and conflict as well as images of protests so I just looked on YouTube for compilations or videos of those things, just typing buzz words in. We did a bunch of takes, and it’s by complete chance that some of the shots like the explosions are perfectly lined up with the music and my face. I did want some images of Russia and footage of people protesting Putin’s attack on the LGBT community, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find any decent footage that worked on the projector.
Here, you attack the media’s commodification of violence/gore. What do you think the true purpose of the media is?
The true purpose of media is to push an agenda for someone’s gain.
Why do you think people have become so desensitized to the gore?
We see these images every day, so it’s not surprising that we have become desensitized.
Do you not think it’s important however for the media to show these shocking images to make people more aware? Explain.
No, I definitely do think that it’s necessary and important. The song isn’t attacking media. It’s attacking the passive consumption of it.
“Oh no that’s bad, is all you say.” What do you think we can do as a community? Keep in mind, however, that these need to be realistic.
The song is aimed at myself as much as at everyone else. I’m certainly no better than anyone else, and it’s really something that I struggle with. The community as a whole, though, generally doesn’t educate themselves on what’s happening and doesn’t really take issue with anything the government does, even if we disagree with it. We’ve been taught to feel helpless and that we can’t make a change, but I don’t know what the alternative is nor how to make an active change. I’m still working on that.
You refer to the modern viewer with a Roman emperor metaphor. Why do you think people tend to enjoy watching such horrific things?
I think it’s the inevitable path of media consumption. Shocking people is a good thing because it gets a reaction out of us; it gets us talking and forming opinions. But what used to shock people doesn’t anymore, because you can get used to anything when you experience it enough.
Throughout the video there is imagery depicting the police and armies of the world as bad. In light of the rise of ISIS, which now poses a credible threat to the West, why do you now make them out to be bad? Where do we draw the line?
Truly, I believe that by and large the police and army do more bad than good. Think about all of the times (especially in America) you’ve heard of police brutality, of the police killing people in the name of national security. We have it good in the UK, but worldwide, people’s rights to protest and to free speech is literally being killed, and the police are the people that follow the orders to do so. I’m not talking about getting rid of the police. They obviously also do a lot of good and are who we call upon to protect us, but I also think that sometimes they think they are above the law (and they are) and we need to find a way to stop that (hint: headcams).
And now you can watch the brand new music video here as of 9pm GMT.
