Vid over troubled auteurs

"First positions!" The call goes up, and the four members of Director return to the top left corner of the cavernous Stage A at Ardmore Studios. It’s around three o’clock on a grey Tuesday, and after a day and a half of setting up, Director are finally ready for the first run-through of their second video shoot.

‘Come With A Friend’, the catchier-than-the-common-cold follow up to Top 10 single ‘Reconnect’, kicks in on the sound system. The video director calls for more volume on the playback, while frontman Michael Moloney picks at his guitar, keen to get going.
Around 20 people are gathered in Ardmore Studios for the making of the video, a mixture of producers, camera operators and stylists, along with some friends of Director who are there to help out. And tuck into the tea and biscuits.
The video requires the band to frantically race around a series of stage set-ups, playing the song at each one for just a few seconds. Then, when the director Enda Hughes gives the call, the instruments are dropped and the boys leg it to the next set-up and start singing again. Things move so quickly that they sometimes don’t even have time to play their instruments, with the Steadicam making relentless progress towards them.
With the track now booming around Stage A at the perfect volume, filming starts, and the cameraman is soon tracking past guitarist Eoin Aherne and onto the second set-up. The band have to run to catch up, and Moloney and drummer Shea Lawlor almost collide with each other en route. There’s a quick laugh, but the lads have to keep going: time, after all, is money in this game.
Here’s where the plot thickens: when they’re finished on the ‘music store’ set, and they run to the next, they encounter another band, dressed almost identically with slim-fitting dark trousers and shirts, and playing their song. It’s the funniest moment in a clip full of clever touches, and one that looks as good on playback as it does when it happens in front of your eyes. Earlier the imposter band, friends of Director, were taught how to play ‘Come With A Friend’, with Shea joking that the record company might prefer if the real Director looked like the fakes.
Back to the run-through, and the band hop onto the final set, a large stage with full lights. They bang out the last notes of the song, and receive a well-deserved round of applause. The run-through has gone well, but time is becoming an issue, so as soon as they finish, it’s off to examine the playback to work out what logistical problems need to be sorted. As soon as that’s done, it’s time for another run-through.
“First positions!” The band are in good humour, joking with each other as the crew set up. Eventually the producer has to ask them to be quiet, and as playback kicks off, the mad rush around Stage A begins again.
Then it’s back to crowding around the monitor and reviewing the take. Enda Hughes offers suggestions on how the band should move from one location to another, but he’s also keen to hear how they think the vid is shaping up. In fact, the initial concept came from bassist Rowan Averill, so the band have been intimately involved in shaping the end result.
“We only had a couple of weeks to pull it all together,” Rowan explains during the quickest of quick breaks, “so we came up with the idea, sitting in the back of the van. It’s really satisfying, especially when you see it on screen. It’s fun to come up with an idea that involves so much gear. We really weren’t sure that we’d be able to do it.”
Ah yes, the gear. Borrowed from the likes of The Blizzards, DC Pakt and The Marshals, it’s an impressive collection that’s scattered around Stage A, and one that, the loan of which, the boys are very grateful for – if only because they didn’t have to shell out much needed loot on renting instruments. They promise they're taking good care of the hardware and, nice boys that they are, I believe them!
Their previous single ‘Reconnect’ went straight into the Irish Top 10. The track’s performance was helped by the heavy airplay it was afforded by most Irish radio stations, as well as its use in phone company 3’s sponsorship of Channel 6’s Night Shift music show. But it’s success took Director by surprise, all the same.
The band were heavily involved in making the video for 'Reconnect' as well, underlining the fact that they have a keen interest in the visual presentation of their music.
“We prefer to take stuff like this into our own hands as much as possible,” says Shea. "Most of the concepts pitched at us from outside the band have been incredibly clichéd."
And accompanied – allegedly, as they say – by the sort of hyperbolic text that would make a tabloid hack blush.
"They promise a lot," Michael notes caustically, "and then spectacularly fail to deliver."
It’s an accusation that can’t be levelled at the band themselves. The past few months have been a real roller coaster for them, with trips all over Europe – from playing festivals in Spain to recording their album in London – and early October sees them gigging around Ireland again. But the excitement surrounding the release of their debut album notwithstanding, it hasn’t all been good times.
“There’s a curse hanging over our heads with regards to automobiles,” jokes Shea of the series of incidents involving the band and broken down vans. Eoin points out that because of all the support slots they’re doing, they’ve ended up playing Dublin one night, and the south of England the next. Not what you’d call ideal scheduling...
“There’s been a lot of long drives and if anything goes wrong, then you’re kind of screwed," he sighs.
Their debut album, We Thrive In Big Cities is self-produced, which Michael reckons gives it “a certain sound”. But surely there were points during the recording when they thought things might be easier with an experienced knob-twiddler?
“Yes," agrees Eoin. "With another producer we probably would have gotten it done quicker, but possibly not as well.”
I ask the boys if they have any idea when they’ll be finished for the night.
“I guess it depends on when we get the take,” says Shea. Suddenly they realise they were due back in front of the cameras a few minutes ago, so it’s time to head back to Stage A. And before long, that call goes up again. “First positions!”