Providing the ultimate moody track to see you through the dregs of summer and into colder season, Luke Lovekin’s novela track Generation Z has been on repeat all week. Like a David Lynch movie in song form, or a sinful Fitzgerald short story, the release of the music video brings Lovekin’s story to life. Filmed during lockdown but managing to ooze the same sexy drama as the track itself, we caught up with Luke about the song, video and process behind them both.
Generation z is a narrative song, a feature that seems to be becoming your signature as your whole back catalogue feels very storytelling. Who were the artists that introduced you to music as a storytelling device?
Tom Waits has a gift that I can only dream of recreating when it comes to dropping his audience into a narrative. My first ever physical vinyl was his album ‘Blue Valentine’; From the opening American noir-esque ‘Somewhere (from “west side story”) to the finale title track that marks the inevitable doom of the troubled protagonist, he absolutely executes the treacle of femme fatale presence – something I always aim to achieve in my own work.
What’s the writing process like when you’re writing a song like this? Do you start off with the story then add music?
I wouldn’t say I have any method to beginning my writing as everything tends to come from observation. I have endless notes on my phone and in books, some one-liners and some written as if a synopsis/poem…it then becomes a game of piecing my catalogue of instrumental ideas with the most suitable story – everything is choreographed through a cinematic vision, I always want to create a scene.
With this particular piece of work, I concentrated on the obvious but changed the algorithm of how you look at it – there’s only so many words but there are millions of ways to arrange them, you know?
With the video, did you have the visuals in mind from day 1 of writing the track?
Very much no and yes. In relation to what I said about cinematic vision, I knew exactly what mood and movement I wanted…however, given the pandemic the shoot of this video was very improvised and driven through the consumption of wine and excessive smokey eye makeup.
Can you introduce us to the team behind the video? How did shooting work with lockdown?
The best team I could ask for – a dear group of individuals I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing lockdown with.
Connor (the house clown) – The biggest con-man I know. Can convince anyone he can do anything and somehow pull it off including shooting a music video. He was behind the camera, pouring the good stuff and bringing out the sass.
The Girls (Alberta & Grishna) – my wonderful makeup team. They dolled me up, straightened my tie and told me I looked pretty.
