On their recent international tour, Australian indie-pop legends the Cannanes stopped by Berlin to play a house concert as part of the Sofa Salon series, a live music enterprise run by Berlin-based Australian singer/songwriter, Samantha Wareing.

And I got to make a music video for them! I like to call it a music video documentary…

We chose their 2015 single release, ‘Grotto Capri‘, which came out on  compilation album, ‘Nail House Party‘ through US indie label, Emotional Response.

I don’t get the opportunity to ‘film-make’ very often these days, so I was grateful for this opportunity, which combined my passion for ‘snapshot’ photography, documentary and music video. Perfect.

My partner in crime was Gentleman Jim Coad (Video Architecture), who I charged with editing responsibilities. We made it over a couple of days here in Berlin. (It was a cruisey creative collaboration – just the way I like it ; )

Jim was in Berlin on a four-month “self-imposed artist retreat” from Central Victoria; we had initially met there when I had photographed him at several live arts events, as part of my documentary work with Punctum Inc.

Jim is a projection artist: one of his major projects in Berlin was a live video projection on the outside of the famed Bauhaus Archive.

Many thanks to everyone who supported and/or took part in the ‘Grotto Capri’ music video project: to the various members of the Cannanes dotted around the globe (including Fran and Steve), and the generous members of the Sofa Salon Berlin community. And if you’d like to find our more about the glorious former Sydney restaurant which inspired this song, visit this blog post.

As a filmmaker and film lover, I’ve always been a bit in love with ‘the music video’ form. It’s such a creative, free and fun way to express yourself inside the dual worlds of music and film.

– Read the Double J feature Megan wrote about the Cannanes.

– (c) Megan Spencer, October 2015