Romanie filmed the video for "Uh Oh" at a couple of auto wreckers in Melbourne's south-east, Photograph by Young Ha Kim
Romanie wipes the slate clean on her first single in nearly two years.
The darker, grunge-inspired sound of “Uh Oh” is a contrast to the shinier brand of indie rock that dominated the Belgian-born, Naarm-based songwriter’s debut LP, Are We There Yet?
To mark the stylistic change-up, Romanie wanted the “Uh Oh” music video to represent wreckage and renewal. So, where better to shoot it than at a couple of auto wreckers in Naarm’s south-east?
The video was directed by Young Ha Kim, who Romanie connected with over cookie dough. Below, Romanie takes us through the clip’s creation, from concept to execution. Keep scrolling to find a behind the scenes photo gallery (click the images to expand.)
Behind the scenes with Romanie
Cookie dough and car wreckers
It began on a rainy, then sunny, then rainy day in Naarm a few months ago when Young Ha Kim and I arranged to meet up for coffee so that we could discuss potentially working together on the “Uh Oh” music video. We hadn’t thought it through and when we got there, we realised 4pm is not a great time to meet up at a breakfast place – it was closed. We went next door to a pink cookie dough shop and the tone of the meeting was set.
I frantically explained I wanted to make an “unhinged music video” in a car wreckers to metaphorically reflect taking a step away from my old sound (a nod to the car in the “Are We There Yet?” music video). Young listened to me rant while we ate cookie dough cookies and our collab was born.
Rejection
I promised to scout the location and straight away emailed a few car wreckers. The first few emails I sent were left on read, so I researched car wreckers a bit further out of town. I finally got a reply and excitedly clicked it open. Someone had responded: “Go Get Fucked. Sent from my iPhone.” Young gently tried to suggest shooting at a different location, but I wouldn’t give in.
A few days later, Troy from Gary Mac’s got back to me to say perhaps Harvey Wreckers might want to host us. Troy said he’d happily have us but they were in the middle of moving so there wasn’t much to see. I got an enthusiastic reply from Harvey Wreckers and we decided to hit up both places.
Stacked cars in Cranbourne
I dragged my band, Young, and my friend Billie to Cranbourne on the day of the shoot. We had access to the whole yard and we even got access to the secret area with stacked cars, which is where we shot most of the footage. Shout out MVP Darren for being a legend.
There were a lot of oils and other things falling from broken cars. I think the fumes got to our heads and both Young and I started to feel light-headed all of a sudden. I took a photo of Young right after we had to get him a chair and a box of apple juice.
Eerie vibes and snake skin
We drove to our next location, Gary Mac’s, where Troy was waiting to let us in. It was a completely different vibe as they were indeed relocating, so there was only a car here and there. But it was a really eerie and cool vibe.
We were told to watch our feet because “heaps of brown snakes had been sighted recently”. We ran back to the car to get a jumper and found snake skin, which really set us into the right mood.
We, very cautiously, but happily, shot some scenes at the top of the hill and climbed onto one of the cars. Overall, an 11/10 day, with an excellent memory turned to music video.
Romanie live
Wed 25 Jun – Shotkickers – Naarm/Melbourne (w/ Joan & the Giants)
Sat 28 Jun – Northcote Social Club – Naarm/Melbourne (w/ Jem Cassar-Daley)
Follow Romanie here
