Interview: Salvia on Re-Birth and Her Music Video 'Angel's Egg'

'Making Angel’s Egg has been my attempt at manifesting strength into my life. Even though the song and the video express this sort of rebirth and finding of power, it isn’t made from a place of feeling powerful. It was made from a place of complete exhaustion and hopelessness. I wanted to make something joyous and celebratory even though I don’t often feel that way because sometimes you have to let go of fear and frustration and allow yourself to see the beauty in life despite everything that’s hurting you.' - Salvia

Hetty Mahlich: What's the story behind Angel's Egg?

Salvia: It’s named after one of my favourite films, it’s from 1985 by Mamoru Oshii. It’s hard to find words good enough to describe it but the visuals are so powerful and I’ve always identified with it a lot. The initial ideas for the song and the video started about two years ago and it’s been evolving and growing since then. I have worked on a lot of different projects between then and now but this song and video always stuck out to me as something very special.

HM: What are some of your key inspirations and aesthetic references?

S: The biggest visual inspirations were the film Angel’s Egg, Alejandro Jodorowsky’s films, McQueen’s Voss show, Hermann Nitsch, Bosch, the Leda and the Swan story, my own photography and just my obsession with super over the top pop and hip-hop music videos. Even though my style is often viewed as weird or extreme I feel like most of my references are just from pop culture because that’s what is in my face, so it’s impossible not to be influenced by it.

HM: Could you explain a little about the process of directing your own music video?

S: Every time I make a song the visual story for the song appears in my head, it is often very specific and I want to have control over everything to make sure it’s perfect, it’s never perfect but that’s ok. I love collaboration but I generally prefer being the only person in control over what I’m creating.

HM: What were the main challenges you came across?

S: I made this video without a budget so I had to do everything myself; I spent many hours building sets and building props, I carved the wood and assembled the spiked rocking horse set and the swing, I made the mermaid tail out of the silicone you use to seal bathroom tiles, I did the swan painting and made three pairs of shoes and a fibreglass egg, I brought home a dead crow I found in a field and nailed it to a wooden frame. There was months of getting everything I needed together. My dad helped me build a big white wooden box in the garden for me to use as a set and my friend Chadd and my partner Ham helped me paint the whole set black in the middle of the shoot because it was too expensive to have two sets and that help meant a lot to me because I was really overwhelmed. The other challenge was overcoming my insecurity about expressing myself, which is a challenge I face every time I create something; I have always felt very ashamed of my art so making something like this where I am being so open is not easy for me.

HM: How did you conceive the make-up looks for this video?

S: I wanted the hair and make-up to honour the style I developed through my teenage years; the long blonde hair far back on my head, the white eyelashes with black sclera lenses and the prosthetics. I turned 21 about 10 days before shooting this video and as I get older my style obviously evolves and I wanted to represent my older style before I move on.