EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE: Clea goes "absolute pop queen" DIY-style on ’Positive Paradise’

Brisbane singer-songwriter Clea creates pop songs with a distinctive mood: words like luminous and feminine apply, but her gauzy melodies are often bent and uneasy at the edges, dreamy in a way that never quite surrenders to sweetness. After her first two songs, ’Polyester’ and ’Dire Consequence’, notched up millions of Spotify streams and a high rotation add on triple j, the 21-year-old was snapped up this year by the new label offshoot of Mirror Music Group for her debut EP, Fairweather.

In a TMN exclusive premiere, Clea Pratt shares the clip for Fairweather’s second single, ’Positive Paradise’ – which she co-directed, with Jeff Andersen Jr, and edited herself – as well as her inspirations, the advantages of an indie label and DIY tips for being a pop queen on a budget.

TMN: There’s a strong aesthetic connection between this clip and the one for ‘Bright Blue’ – what were your inspirations?

Clea: I don’t have to go far for inspiration as I’m surrounded by so many creative, talented people whom I adore. A case in point are my buddies Billie and Grace, the two beauties in the video. They front their own band (Nice Biscuit), hand-make all their own costumes for their shows, and are a huge aesthetic inspiration to me.

Having these creative ladies close to me is really empowering…it’s so important to support and encourage each other in this industry.

I used to blast my ears with anthems walking home from school, all the while imagining I was being filmed for a clip. I dance trained a few years back and have always felt good moving my body.

In terms of choreography, ‘Bright Blue’ is more a collection of slow choreographed movements rather than a dance, but with ‘Positive Paradise’ I wanted to let fly and be an absolute pop queen.

So my friend Alice, an excellent dancer, helped me with the moves, inspired by the likes of Solange and Sylvan Esso.

Re film style, Tame Impala’s ‘The Less I Know The Better’ – an absolute favourite of mine – showed me the way.

The production group Canada capture a sense of movement that glues your eye to the screen – it’s eye candy.

What did you do yourself or mostly yourself? Why has that been important to you?

I found the pink and white silky fabric for the costumes, my friend Molly made up the glam pants, and Billie and I made the tops and pom pom earrings. 

I edited ’Positive Paradise’ myself, having learnt a few skills over the years.

This is my dream job so I need to be involved in every aspect. It’s important for me to overlook the whole creative process because it all comes back to my music… it truly needs to represent me and only me.

You’ve put together two clips now with a pretty lean budget. How do you prioritise what you spend money on? How do you get the rest for as little as possible?

‘I get by with a little help from my friends’ a lot! Most of the budget went towards camera and lights. 

If you surround yourself with like-minded people that believe in what you do then there’s is so much to work with. There is so, so much we can do with our own hands – we need to get them bruised and dirty and create things that make you proud. Having a constrained budget makes you more creative, anyhow.

Tell us about your relationship with your label – how does Mirror work for you? Where have they helped, and where have they stepped back and let you do your thing?

Mirror and I work perfectly together; being [with] an independent label means I have full control over my creative input and output. They contribute funds and give me endless support for what I’m doing.

Feels good to know that Mirror has complete trust in how I need to represent myself as an artist and have no problem in stepping back in that aspect, but they’re always there for expert advice and working hard at creating connections to get my work out there.

What’s the best piece of advice anyone’s given you so far and how has it come in handy? 

Just put yourself out there, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. When I become overwhelmed and self-conscious I come back to this statement and realise that the only thing that actually matters is doing what you love and giving it to the world. Ultimately people want you to succeed.

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The Fairweather EP is out now through Mirror Records.

Clea is currently on tour, with Nice Biscuit supporting her next three shows along the East Coast:

Melbourne
The Workers Club, Thursday July 6

Sydney
Brighton Up Bar, Saturday July 8

Brisbane
The Foundry, Saturday July 15