Kris Moyes has been killin it ever since he started directing videos in 2005. Working with artists like Franz Ferdinand, Beck, Cut Copy and countless more, its easy to say that Kris Moyes is one of the favorites in the world of music videos. Throughout his career, he has picked up a couple of awards along the way (Australian Dance Music award for Best Music Video, ARIA award for Best Music Video in 2008) for his exceptional work with the Presets’, aaaaaaand he also just recently won another ARIA for Sia’s “Clap Your Hands“! We caught up with him to sift through his brain.

YMT: Your latest video, with bag raiders was a bit of a heater, how do you find inspiration and come up with the ideas for your videos?

KRIS: Usually, I find inspiration in the weirdest of times. Sometimes, when I’m on the toilet, other times when I have my face in a meal. Sometimes I get them in that moment when you’re drifting off to sleep and I’m just at the cusp of that deep slumber when it comes and I have to get up and write it down before I start obsessing over it and then it’s near impossible to get back to sleep. But I rarely use these ideas for videos cos they either suck or just don’t translate. When I have a track I usually come up with something that is integral to the lyrics or the feeling of the song. Most times I think about what the obvious interpretation is and then do the exact opposite. For Bag Raiders, the lyricist is searching for his way to a lost love. For me, I decided to make it about losing one’s way in the universe and needing to find a way back home through a portal, the only way was to unlock a new portal by carrying out a combination of quotidian tasks. Throughout the space there is a memory of previous attempts and fuck ups. I enjoyed indicating a history into their environment, which was kind of like a meth lab.

YMT: The visuals you present seem to be second to none, what is your background in the industry?

KRIS: I studied art at Seaforth TAFE and COFA. I learned a lot about critical thinking from Geoff Kleem my photography teacher at TAFE. I didn’t study directing. In fact I only just learned what a 1st Assistant Director was recently…haha. Yeah, there are many holes in my understanding my industry. I attribute the point of difference in my work to this fact.”

YMT: What’s your favorite part of a project? Do you have a project in which you enjoyed working on more than others?

KRIS: For me the spice is in the creative pathway. Like an architect builds interesting livable spaces, I create creative pathways to navigate though each project. Different for each project. This is something i think a lot of people I work with hate about it, because it demands so much more from them, rather than the path commonly trodden.

Video : Beck - Youthless

YMT: Who is your favorite director in the video industry right now? Favorite people?

KRIS: Is it terrible to say I don’t have one? I’m doing a guest lecture for Tom Ellard’s (of Severed Heads) class next week. He’s an incredible human with a twisted mind, but he doesn’t make stuff anymore I don’t think, though I could be wrong.

YMT: What’s on the radar for Kris Moyes? Any new projects in the works?

KRIS: Yeah, always things on the go, but, it’s not like I would talk about them until they are done. Surely you’d understand. Watch out though, there’s some VHS (Very Heavy Shit) coming your way. I just stole the VHS thing from my friend Tom. Sorry Tom!

YMT: Thanks Kris!

Check out Kris’ other work on his site kmoyes.com
Title image credit: Ben Sullivan

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- L.U - YMT