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BANKS Discusses Her Approach To Videos

09/16/2014
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(Radio.com) BANKS released her debut album, Goddess, on Sept. 9. About a month before that, she posted her sixth music video from the album. That level of output from a brand new artist in an often costly visual medium in this day and age is unusual. For BANKS, it's been a key part of a multi-tiered way to establish her aesthetic.

Any writer reading her bio or interviewing her quickly sees: aside from lyrics, BANKS is more comfortable dealing in aural and visual worlds than the world of words. The slinky, sexy, Helmut Newton-esque style she's exhibited in her videos is a constant, but she says it's not an intellectual exercise.

"Everything is by instinct," BANKS says of her creative process. "There's nothing mathematic about it. There's nothing logical about it. It's pure nutrition. I don't think, I just feel and I do. When something connects with me, I hope that it connects with other people. That's the most special thing in the world."

In her current video, "Beggin for Thread," she collaborates with director Barnaby Roper, also the auteur behind the "Brain" vid. It's a little more high fashion, visually, than the rest of her body of work so far. The black and white clip finds her on a sound stage in a gown, striking a well-known high fashion pose, with isolated body shots of the rippling backs of young men interspersing her actions. It's similar to the aesthetic of Calvin Klein's well known perfume commercials in the '90s. BANKS characterizes the shoot, and her posturing, as instinctual and totally drive by the feelings her music inspires in her.

"Videos need to accentuate the heartbeat of the song. My music often times feels heavy, to me. It's like a heavy growl. I want that in my videos. With my videos, it comes down to if I like them or I don't. If I do, it's probably going to look like BANKS because I am me. I make the music that I like and I make the videos that I like to give off the right essence," she says with a smile. "That's what everybody does without trying. You don't need to try and be you, you just are."

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