There’s something about the underground that calls to the misfits, the outsiders, the ones who don’t quite fit in. Our music video, UNDERGROUND from our HUMAN+ album, is an ode to those people and places…gritty and raw.
Like all of our video projects, UNDERGROUND was a full-on, hands-on production. No outside crew. No stylists. No fancy gear. Just two creatives, a camera (oh, and a tripod), and some handy stock footage! It was written and recorded in Level 4 lockdown in New Zealand. It’s not that we had anywhere we would rather be.
The characters we portray in the video are unrefined and flawed. They’ve slipped between the cracks of society and found a kind of home beneath the surface. It’s not glamorous, but it’s theirs. There’s a kind of kinship in that space. These people find something that eludes them above ground: belonging.
A set with no set design
Part of the video (at least, footage of Jel and I) was filmed in a partially built shell of what now is our guest house. At the time, it was a blank canvas. Unpainted plasterboard and bare concrete floors, it was perfect for a derelict squatters’ lair that felt forgotten by the world above. We wanted viewers to feel like they were stepping into a hidden world, one where society’s outcasts find freedom in the shadows.
And yes, if you caught the reference, UNDERGROUND also tips its hat to the London metro system. The video’s name carries a double meaning: it’s about those living figuratively underground, but also a subtle allusion to the literal Underground, with its labyrinthine tunnels, dim lights, and steady hum beneath the city.
We’ve both spent time in London, and there’s something about riding the Tube, especially late at night, that can feel like slipping into another dimension. We wanted to bring that sensation into the story: a secret world running just beneath the surface, where the lost and the bold carve out something of their own.
Like with most of our songs and videos, we’re not here to dictate how you interpret it. The lyrics of UNDERGROUND might mean something completely different to you…and that’s the beauty of it. That’s the magic of music and art. It breathes different air in every room.
Underground isn’t just where you go when you’re cast out. Sometimes, it’s where you finally come home.