After Sydney singer-songwriter Blake Dantier released his single ‘Ash & Dust’ in late April it was quickly added to ABC Country, Kix Country and Australian Country Radio, its heartfelt lyrics connecting with listeners around Australia. Of course, Dantier has not been able to go out and play to those listeners himself – and it would have seemed that making a video was also out of the question, but he found a way.
‘I wasn’t initially going do to a clip because of social restrictions,’ he says, ‘but we decided last minute to pull together a small crew. We had a general idea in mind about how the clip would look, but decided exactly what spots to shoot in on the day.’
The video was directed by Bruce Dawson and shot by Lawrence Lim – both from Tribal Apes – in and around their studio at Fox Studios in Sydney’s Moore Park. The video has its premiere on this website today.
Dantier appears alone in the clip but when a song has as much impact as this one does, no embellishment is required. There was, however, one downside to making the video.
‘I was really hanging out for some KFC but it took us all afternoon and night [to shoot the video],’ says Dantier. ‘We shot for so long that KFC wasn’t open by the time we got there.’
Given that gigs are still a while off – although Dantier and partner Cass Hopetoun recently played a drive-in gig in Sydney – this video will be the most direct interaction the audience can have with Dantier. And as it perfectly complements his wonderful song, it’s worth watching over and over again.