10 months after the release of their powerful EP “We Are”, Serbian melodic hardcore band B L А N K Ф I L E comes back with an impressive music video for the record’s closing track “No Harm’s Done”, a story about love, its passions, and the reconciliation. We sat down with the band to learn more about the concept, their sense of such an intimate visual form and their plans for the coming months. Watch the video right here and scroll further down to learn more.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
“No Harm’s Done” lyrics:
The clock is ticking; but the time stands still in dark
What if we let our demons to speak on our behalf?
Deep in the shadows of our troubled mind are lies
and the worst fear of all – the sound of goodbyeAll questions remain just echoes in the night, no harm’s done, no harm’s done
I hold your hand tight but we are going down, running from the light, running from the lightAnd nothing can stop me from building this home again
And nothing can stop me from ruining everything
The time dissolves the guise, the truth burns like a flare,
through the bursting light I see you and I want you next to me
Still one single thought turns it all to black
Even though we’re close, the shore is miles awayWe walk between love and hate, foolish and aware
Feelings you expect from me, I know I can’t attain
I am a crook and a coward; sorry for the things I’ve done wrong
Tried to warn you, but somehow you knew it all alongAll questions remain just echoes in the night, no harm’s done, no harm’s done
Maybe after we drown we wake up in the place where all of this began, all of this beganAnd nothing can stop me from building this home again
And nothing can stop me from ruining everything
The time dissolves the guise, the truth burns like a flare,
through the bursting light I see you and I want you next to me
Still one single thought turns it all to black
Even though we’re close, the shore is miles away
The band’s latest EP “We Are” was released in February 2016 and can be streamed in its entirety below. Listen and scroll down to read the full interview, breaking down the video above.
What do you mean by the title ‘No Harm Done’? Can you explain the meaning of this track?
I will try to explain. This track is our story about real love, the one that leaves scars. That story is full of extremes that are clashing with each other. Some of them we bring with our character and the rest are, naturally, out of our control. People get hurt either way and all we can do is to take a deep breath and move on with a comforting “No harm’s done”. That moment of reconciliation was the base motive for making of this song and video.
How did your understating of this theme lead to this particular imagery and concept for the video?
I think that a motion can sometimes covey much more meaning than we could express with words. And what is a more adequate way to visualize a love story than through composition of ballet moves? It’s done so many times, by so many great artists. We were just hooked to that idea and built our story. I took a role of the story narrator and we realized that we, also, need to add a spiritual emphasis to the story. That’s why you will see the other members of the band in the role of “emissaries” sending symbolic messages throughout the video.
Can you describe some of the people engaged in this production and your interactions with the camera? How do you like this movie-like concept of a music video?
I’m glad that you’ve noticed that “movie-like” detail. It was a final touch and I like it. It gave width to this video, by shrinking it. And black & white concept was also a good call – I can’t explain it in words, but picture movies have much more sensibility when you deliver them in monochromatic output and we needed to catch every single emotion that happened on set. Sandra and Sava are professional dancers, they were fully engaged in the storyline, bringing our words to life and giving us a lot of “material” to work with. Sasha Petra put enormous efforts “behind” the camera to catch up with every planned and ad hoc idea that we brought to the set. I can say that we all were on the same page in this project.
How difficult is it to develop your own artistic language through motion picture?
So far, this is the biggest challenge we put before us in developing our own artistic expression. By the first audience impressions it will be a hard task to get affirmations, especially, in the hardcore scene, full of, sometimes, radical principles. But, we were aware of it before we decided to make this song, this video…and, maybe, we actually want to bring another radical principle to the hardcore “table” – be brave, be honest to yourself and do something different.
This video and your latest EP have clearly grown out of personal and musical experience. Can you tell us a bit about your actual creative process and how you plan to process it into your next recordings? Also, are there any new records we should anticipate from you guys in 2017?
We start by laying the foundation of a song. It’s always a catchy riff. And then we build from there. Sometimes the song can have multiple iterations before we feel it’s suitable enough to record. The lyrics come at the end, they are the crown of all our songs. Some people may feel that this process is backwards but we found that it suits our creative style. The inspiration for the lyrics is abundant in our surroundings. We live in an unstable world. We are witnesses to its slow demise. And we like to sing about it. Even our optimistic songs about everlasting friendships can have a somber note sprinkled in for good measure.
We had a personal change this year that set us back a bit. Now we are back on our creative track and we are planning new material next year already.
Photo by Raša St Photography.
It’s been a while since you started this band. What keeps you hooked?
We love the comraderie that’s comes with being in the band. We are great friends, foremost. Not so great musicians. We love the process of creating. This band breaks the cycle of mundane everyday activities. It helps us travel to places we wouldn’t normally visit. Enough reasons to stay hooked.
What are your touring plans? When and where can we catch you guys live?
We don’t have a touring agent that manages our tour plans, we do it all ourselves. So, there aren’t any exact dates and the only plan is: when we feel we should tour and if there is enough time for it, we tour. We miss being on the road, so if 2017 doesn’t throw something unpredictable at us, we will be seeing you next year! Call us or drop us a line via [email protected]!
