It’s no secret that Diamond Rings (aka John O’Regan) treats his image as carefully as he crafts his songs.
He’s branded himself with a look that amalgamates everything from drag elements to sports imagery, and recently teamed up with video director Jeff Scheven for his latest video It’s Not My Party.
Scheven has also worked with TV on the Radio, Death From Above, as well directing the videos for his own band, Lioness. This video takes Diamond Rings’ image into slightly darker terrain, as we follow a fully dragged-up Diamond Rings through a freezing Toronto night, encountering violence and drug induced isolation and nausea.
We asked Scheven a few questions about how the whole thing went down.
Tell me about how the idea for the video came about?
After first hearing the song, I imagined something in the vein of videos like Sinead O’Conner’s Nothing Compares 2 U and Bruce Springsteen’s Streets Of Philadelphia. I really like the honesty that comes across in those videos, and thought that something like that would work well for the song, and maybe portray Diamond Rings in a different light then his previous videos. We talked about separating his androgynous look into a man and a woman. The man would be slightly rugged and weathered while the woman would be the wild hot-mess alter ego.
Is O’Regan’s unique image important to the video process or useful in a particular way to his message?
I think the image is very important to the video. John looks pretty stunning as the cross-dresser. His look is so unique it makes it hard to take your eyes off of him. And a man dressed as a woman is still a serious mind-fuck for a lot of people. There is something about the aesthetic that makes it both challenging and attractive at the same time. It’s all about that character – you need to feel something for her/him for the video to work. John’s image is definitely important to what he’s got going on but I think at the heart of it he’s a really talented songwriter. His look might intrigue you, but I think it’s the songs that are really connecting with people.
Tell me about the decision to include the gritty details of the drug use and drinking – was it your intention to establish a badass angle to John’s image?
I wasn’t really looking to establish a badass image. I wanted to show realistic drinking and drug use because you rarely see that in a video, and I feel like it’s pretty common in life. It was also a way of taking John’s performance to another level. I wanted everything to seem real and raw. I didn’t want him to be worried about acting a certain way – I just wanted him to be free. I feel that seeing and feeling that downward spiral is important to the story. By the end it looks like he’s gone through a lot. He’s on another planet and I found it extremely captivating to watch.
The video has a really intimate, realistic feel to it – can you explain the nature of your shooting technique?
When I was presented with the low budget for the video, making it as real as possible seemed like the only way to go. I just wanted to put him out on the street with a camera and let nature take its course. Something interesting has to happen when you strap a camera to a 6 foot 5, inappropriately dressed cross-dresser and send him out into the freezing night with a purse containing only a flask, some pills, lady-smokes and a Kraftwerk cassette. We plotted a course and off we went.
Any encounters with the unsuspecting public that night that you want to share?
I remember at the end of the night as John was desperately trying to hail a cab, a man came up to me and asked “Are you with her?” I said “Yes – she’s wasted and it’s time for me to take her home.” He said “Niiice. Go for it buddy” I was like, “Oh, I’m going to.” And I did.
Finally, what does Diamond Ring’s poor mother think about all of this?
I don’t know! I wonder…
