Interview: Autogramm Talk About Their New Music Video "I Am a Situation"
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“...this song is just an acknowledgement of my own fucked-up-ness at that time, and also a reminder to really check in with your friends, because they may be having a hard time, despite appearances.”
How did the members of Autogramm initially meet and decide to form the trio? Also, what does the group's name mean?
C.C.: This is where Berlin comes into the picture again. We've all spent a lot of time in the city either visiting friends or touring with our bands. I happened to live there 7 years as well. Jeff and I talked about starting something new while he was living in Berlin one summer. Autogramm was just one of a handful of German names we picked after a long search for a band name. Something German seemed appropriate. It means Autograph.
Jiffy Marx: And there's already a band called Autograph!
Congratulations on the release of your new music video for "I Am a Situation"; tell us about your creative process for the song itself.
The Silo: I wrote the lyrics to “I Am a Situation” a little more than a year ago, right at the beginning of the COVID pandemic lockdown. It was perhaps for the first time in a long while seeing myself at a distance.
These very unusual events can force us to re-evaluate our lives in a way that life as usual tends to blind us to. I was thinking about how a person's life can appear from the outside to be so settled, ideal, in the right place, while on the inside they may be struggling, drifting, gone awry.
This sort of thing tends to be exacerbated by our suddenly very isolated lives, when all we get to see from our friends and loved ones is an idyllic representation that we're fed through social media. Not everyone is comfortable sharing their fears and struggles in the public forum. So this song is just an acknowledgement of my own fucked-up-ness at that time, and also a reminder to really check in with your friends, because they may be having a hard time, despite appearances.
How did the band and the director Dana Tucker come up with the treatment for the video, and how did actress Kim Kraczon end up starring?
C.C.: Dana and Kim are friends from when I lived in Berlin. We wanted a subway themed, day-in-the-life video, with nods to Kraftwerk.
The video was originally supposed to include friends from all over the world riding their city's respective subway trains, but the pandemic got in the way. Kim and Dana said they'd still do something less "transit" oriented so we let them film what they wanted. Dana has pro gear and has worked on videos for Peaches and others in Berlin, so we knew it'd turn out well.
From all the songs on the "No Rules" album, what led to the band deciding to film a music video for "I Am a Situation"?
C.C.: Seeing as we knew we wouldn't be able to tour around the release of this album, we decided we'd make a video for almost every song on the record. This one just happened to be the next in line!
With "No Rules", and the clip for "I Am a Situation" now released, what are some of your goals musically for the remainder of 2021?
Jiffy Marx: We have been shooting stuff for a couple more videos. I thought maybe if we couldn't tour maybe we'd try to make a video for every song on the album? So far there are four and shooting for at least two more so that's like half!?
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