Why I shot a music video using Quicktime player and made it look like a Zoom call…


Originally released in December 2020, “Let It Snow” wasn’t just the first Obey Robots single, it was the first song we completed (in December 2020!).

It was a test:

-> can we make music together?
-> do we love what we made?
-> does anyone want to hear it?

If the answer to the first two questions had been “no”, you would never have heard of Obey Robots. And if the answer to the second question was “yes”, the answer to the third question would never stop me anyway.

Happily, the answer to the second question was HELL YES! – and the overwhelmingly positive response from music fans was the icing on the cake. A cake full of riffs! 🎂🎸


For this new video, I decided to invite you in to get a sense of what the collaboration process was like for Rat and I.

By December 2020 we’d only met in person twice, so all communication was by email and occasional Zoom calls. We were always speaking from our individual creative spaces, which I think helped us both to feel more confident talking to someone we didn’t know that well.

I got so used to seeing Rat on my computer screen that it still surprises me when we meet up – he’s very tall!

Most of the video was shot using Quicktime player. We’ve all grown perhaps too familiar with the particular quality of footage you get on video calls, so I wanted to retain that to bring you right into the middle of things.

All the footage up to the instrumental was shot individually and separately: me in my home studio, Rat in his. And then – well, I don’t want to ruin the plot twist, you’ll just have to watch!

Being creative doesn’t require fancy equipment or a big team of people. You can achieve a lot with just an idea, some basic gear and the drive to complete something. That’s how our album was made, and how everything else we’re sharing is being made. That’s how I’ve always worked.

This is real people making real music about real things. I hope you enjoy it.

Love,
Laura xo

-> PRE-ORDER “One In A Thousand” by Obey Robots now – out on 24th February 2023! You’ll receive four songs immediately, with another beaming into your inbox before the album release.

Thank you for supporting independent music!

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🎨 If you make things too – or want to know more about the creative process – I’m sharing thoughtful weekly essays here on my experiments in art, music and life on Substack (and I won’t be at all offended if you prefer to read my stuff there rather than on this absolutely gorgeous website).

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See you soon xo



PS yes, my songs are available everywhere else you listen to music online.
Just search for Penfriend, She Makes War and Obey Robots.

You could even subscribe here to send a message to the algorithm overlords that Penfriend rocks!

Better still ⤵️

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