Sydney’s Jinja Safari – who just recently announced a national tour for November – have premiered their new video for the infectious Forest Eyes.
Here’s the story behind the clip, as told by co-frontman Marcus Azon:
“This Forest Eyes video is a hybrid of two separate adventures, in different seasons of 2010.
Half of it was filmed earlier this year, at the end of Summer, and the second half was filmed a couple of months ago, at the end of winter. The first Summer adventure was memorable for two reasons – Pepa (Knight) and I had just finished recording “Peter Pan” and “Forest Eyes” in his home studio. We didn’t have a band, or the support of anyone but our mothers, so we just put the songs on myspace with some footage that we shot on the Central Coast. It was weird. We filmed another part on a whimsical road trip I took with my flat mate, Sam, and photographer Shantanu Starick, to his home in Byron Bay. On this trip, something unusual took place… for it is where Sam and I developed the concept of UGLY DANCING. We had been working on it for a while, but it really came into full glory at one point near a field of sugar cane, where we pulled over, cranked some wild world music, and pulled all the worst dance moves we could. I got so overwhelmed by the ugly dance that I slipped out of all my clothes and danced naked along the roadside, much to the delight of passing road train drivers (who gave me an almighty toot). Unfortunately, Shantanu was there to document it all and you can see some of that footage in the clip.
The second instalment of the clip was filmed early on a Sunday morning in Winter. We had a gig on Saturday night, and all our friends came back to our house for a sleep over. We got up at 5:30am and hiked down into the forest, along a river in Frenchs Forest to catch the sunrise on a secluded beach. It was freezing, no one enjoyed themselves, except for a one Pepa Knight, who snuck down a block of chocolate, and was secretly snacking with (bass player) Joe Citizen. We lit a fire, danced around it, and everyone started feeling a little better about life.
So now we have done the round robin of a full seasonal cycle and want to show you what can be done with a couple of home video cameras, terrible ‘animal’ costumes, little-to-no prior planning, a couple of kids from the block, and some face paint. Hope you enjoy.”
Jinja Safari’s Forest Eyes Tour takes place in November, dates and ticketing links are below:
BRISBANE :: Thursday 4th Nov @ THE ZOO :: Tix: http://zoo.oztix.com.au/default.aspx?Event=18097
FREMANTLE :: Friday 5th Nov @ FREMANTLE TOWN HALL ::www.heatseeker.com.au
ADELAIDE :: Saturday 6th Nov @ JIVE BAR :: Tix: http://www.moshtix.com.au/event.aspx?id=41255&ref=moshtix
SYDNEY :: Thursday 11th Nov @ OXFORD ARTS FACTORY :: Tix:http://www.moshtix.com.au/event.aspx?id=41255&ref=moshtix
NEWCASTLE :: Friday 12th Nov @ NORTHERN STAR HOTEL :: Tix:http://www.bigtix.com.au/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=1607
BALLARAT :: Thursday 18th Nov @ KAROVA LOUNGE :: Tix:http://karovalounge.oztix.com.au/default.aspx?Event=18064
MELBOURNE :: Friday 19th Nov @ EAST BRUNSWICK CLUB :: Tix:https://www.cornerhotel.com/boxoffice/?venue=EB&gig=1290159000
