Exclusive Video Premiere: ‘Open Relationship,’ Andy Clockwise feat. Stella Mozgawa

Though he began with a vision to recreate a ’90s R&B-style video on a faux New York street, L.A.-based musical artist Andy Clockwise’s video for “Open Relationship” is far from his original thought. In collaboration with Warpaint‘s Stella Mozgawa, Clockwise created a synthy eight-minute long song (“it was quick to write and record, then a pain in the Ringo Starr to finish”), but an even more intriguing video. The two wear matching tracksuits in hilarious and, at many times, awkward situations.

“Stella and I sat down and talked about small vignettes of visual paintings that had symbolism, but no overt narrative,” Clockwise explains. “We wrote down a big list, the more ridiculous the better, and we went from there.”

Throughout the video, which we are happy to premiere here, Clockwise (neé Andy Kelly) and Mozgawa appear alongside friends and extras in scenes that range from horse stables, to old men sitting in the corner of a backyard pool, a cult worshipping in the desert, a petting zoo, and a kitschy home fit for Miami. “My friend is also a big Kenneth Anger fan and started playing a lot of his film as well as Jodorowsky footage,” Clockwise says. “The cult scenes were a more light hearted direct influence from those films.” Filming took more than a month, because “we had to sneak some celebrity’s horse out of a stable while they weren’t there; we had to film at the bat caves in L.A. when the rangers weren’t around on the hottest day of the year; we had to jump our friend’s fence to film at his pool because he forgot he was going to be out of town,” he continues. Clockwise spent yet another month at his parents’ “farm in the bush in Australia” editing the footage on his laptop.
Sonically, the song sounds like LCD Soundsystem-meets-’80s disco and funk, but lyrically, it enters a more modern era through the omnipresent idea of open relationships. “But baby / Please don’t go away / I want a real relationship,” Clockwise sings before Mozgawa goes on, “Baby that’s not my thing / because I like the ding-a-ling / Plus I’m in so many relationships.” Clockwise immediately continues, “But baby, this shit is driving me crazy / because every time you take a guy / I ask myself why I agreed to an open relationship.”

The song was inspired by a true story from one of Clockwise’s friends. “He talked to his lady, who wasn’t too interested in being involved in an open relationship, but she said okay,” Clockwise explains. “Then he kind of got left behind! I thought it was a great fable in lessons of ‘be careful what you wish for.'” When it comes to the musician’s own views on open relationships, “Whatever floats your boat, whatever gets you through the night,” he says. “The world doesn’t need more rules and judgment at this time, wouldn’t you think? Go for it everybody! Go for it, Andy!” But then with a laugh, he quickly adds, “My girlfriend’s going to slap me.”

ANDY CLOCKWISE WILL BE PERFORMING TONIGHT, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, AT HOLLYWOOD MUSIC HALL. FOR MORE, VISIT HIS FACEBOOK.