We’ve hooked a certified LUNKER for this week’s nostalgia-soaked Feature Video ‘Addicted To Bass’, a Puretone classic reimagined by Dom Dolla!
Directed by rage favourites Kyle Caulfield and Charles Buxton-Leslie, the newest imagining of Aussie dance classic ‘Addicted To Bass’ features a fish (presumably a bass), gigantic sound system and a cameo from Australian journalist and ABC TV alumni Michael Rowland. “The whole thing was just surreal,” says Michael. “I got a cold DM from one of the directors of the clip, who happens to be a long-time News Breakfast viewer. He was clearly after a nerdy Dad and I clearly fit this role!”
“The clip was shot over one day and night in a suburban house in Melbourne’s East. Dom Dolla was there for several hours and was loving the whole process. Those enormous speakers were the other big stars of the clip (they were real and they were huge!), as was the large fish, that was starting to stink as the hours ticked by. All in all, a totally wild experience for me.”
Co-director Kyle explains “the birth of this idea, whilst very distant from the final video, was inspired by a very lo-fi pixelated video from somewhere deep in a colder part of Europe, it showed some rave-looking folk seated in an older looking volvo, a secret bass machine with a huge subwoofer. When cranking the bass their hair stood up in all directions, clothes rippling like they were about to be torn off, bass at that level just has such an interesting texture visually, rarely can you see sound like that.”
“The idea surfaced around the same time Dom had started teasing this remix of ‘Addicted to Bass’, the transformation on the track with this huge drop was just begging for some crazy visual pairing really. We kept building on the idea and playing on the idea of morphing faces and visual distortion and chaos. Dom and the team really backed the final idea and we were able to turn it around in a little less than 2 weeks.”
Originally released in 1998 on Puretone’s (a.k.a. Josh Abrahams) album Sweet Distorted Holiday, ‘Addicted To Bass’ is an Aussie dance classic that thanks to Dom now has new legs. “This ear worm was stuck in my head as a young aussie for nearly 30 years,” explaims Dom. “My intentions with this remix were to introduce it to the next generation, and hopefully out into areas of the globe that never had the chance to hear the original.”
“When it came to the video, I really wanted to assemble an Aussie crew to produce it, celebrating the origins of where the tune began in my hometown of Melbourne. Featuring an Aussie director, Aussie cast (and Aussie fish) to be the star of the show. (Barramundis are technically ‘Asian sea bass’ but we Aussies find them delish).”
“I was thrilled to see what Dom had done with my tune when I first heard it” says Puretone. “He’s brought a deep, dirty, basement-funk vibe and I’m loving it. Seeing Michael Rowland getting slapped about the face with all that bass was the cherry on top!”
Kyle adds “we should also note, we see this video as entirely fictional, ear health and hearing protection is very important and everyone should be wearing hearing protection in any setting like this. Our talent are wearing ear protection in the video, and of course the effects are not generated with any bass or loud music, but alas’ if you find yourself also addicted to bass, just be addicted to protecting your ears as well.”