Behind the Scenes on Fickle Friends' '80s-style video for "Cry Baby"

Shiner explained "we were on set all day even though we shot the performance first. There’s nothing like watching your ideas coming to life on screen. We’re a very opinionated band and sometimes that can prove difficult in situations like this….but it was the first time we all felt very much on the same page as each other and Adam (the director)."

Fickle Friends' "Cry Baby", directed by Adam Willis is out now via Polydor.

It was such a joy to be able to meet a director who really grasped what we wanted to a achieve with this video. We had an idea and he ran with it, story boarding the vignettes and coming up with the specific scenes and visuals. It was our first time collaborating with someone in this way and I definitely see us working with him again on something.

It’s a very surreal thing watching someone cry on cue…and contrary to how the scene may look (purposely staged) all the actors starring in the vignettes could do so.

That kind of visible emotion is so fascinating to me and having sifted through various reference videos I think it’s so engaging to watch.

The whole vision for the video was to have the sets quite obviously staged. I particularly loved the bit with the hanging window…it meant everything felt very theatrical which worked amazingly with the idea of testing your emotions.

The amazing thing about being in LA is the sheer amount of Vintage American sports wear. We’ve spent so much time hunting through thrift stores in Hollywood and Echopark. This dolphins jacket is the sure winner though!

We shot three main scenes which were meticulously designed and the props sourced were such brilliant little details. I’m not sure if many people tend to appreciate that sort of thing but I think it’s such a nice touch. It was also cool that you never really know what era the video is supposed to reflect…it’s ambiguous and surreal.

I always find it very difficult to think of creative ways to implement performance shots. We’ve never been particularly comfortable in front of the camera, but in this video it made sense to keep things stylised and simple as to not detract from the intercut vignettes.

I’d like to play more with the idea of cameos in future videos…we’ll have to get used to it at some point ha.

Both we and Adam tried to come up with a whole bunch of things that make you cry…whether it was on an emotional level or from physical pain…when all of these things are put side by side it ended up feeling quite weird. The finger chopping was quite fun, has a really nice staged 80’s horror feel.

I love this scene. Initially we wanted to stage some kind of staring contest but we stuck with the idea of holding your eyes open for too long and Adam caught some really awesome shots using a stunning dressing table they sourced…they did one long shot which used the mirrors reflection all the way across the room. You have no idea how difficult it is to perform this to the camera for prolonged periods of time without your eyes watering…I don’t know how the cast did it.

The extra characters loitering in the back ground of scenes is so weird, and awkward….like a play gone wrong. The lighting was a massive part of this video too…it was very difficult because as much as we LOVE using neons …you know… that quintessential 80’s lighting…everyone is doing it one way or another. This video is a little more horror than Miami Vice, with the lights never actually in shot during the vignettes…they’re mostly used to colour the white back drops of the scenes and it has that kind of naff, manufactured look which I really like.

My favourite prop from the set was this amazing couch. The lamps either side were actually part of it. I also don’t think we’ve every taken a picture first time without us all blinking OR looking this serious.