Videos

Fickle Friends release split-screen video for ‘Hard To Be Myself’

• 2nd Nov 2017

Following a triumphant sold-out show at London’s Kentish Town Forum, which brought their biggest UK headline tour to date to a confetti-strewn close, Fickle Friends release the official video for current single ‘Hard To Be Myself’.

The video highlights the song’s subject matter, with frontwoman Natti previously explaining, “Hard To Be Myself is a song about social awkwardness and anxiety. Wanting to be someone else so desperately, dreaming you were the life of the party. It’s the idea that a certain person can kinda loosen your senses and lower your inhibitions just like drinking alcohol.”

The video was directed by Daniel Harris, who reveals, “The split-screen concept for Fickle Friends’ ‘Hard To Be Myself’ was built off the structure of ‘Expectation’ vs ‘Reality’, all based around a ‘90s American Frat House party aesthetic. From the beginning of the two narratives, I wanted to create a clear point of difference in the behaviour of our lead, Leo, by directing a left-side character that was relentlessly decisive, unapologetically confident and free from social inhibition versus a right-side character that was uncomfortable in his own skin and nervous. Then we surrounded him with the same character-set in the two different realities, one inside the party and the other on the doorstep, uninvited. These played side by side created a really beautiful juxtaposition. Alongside the narrative, we peppered in a gorgeous telephoto performance of Natti and shots from the band that flow along with the story.”

Musically, ‘Hard To Be Myself’ is a giddily peaking rollercoaster of irresistible hooks, lyrically it flips line by line from gloriously hedonistic abandon to nakedly self-analytical. It’s an anthem for a pre-loading generation of wasted youth, encapsulating everything that makes Fickle Friends such a great band. Building towards an infectious chorus that you’ll be singing for days, ‘Hard To Be Myself’ is the creative culmination of three years honing their craft on the road and in the studio and as a result is undeniably brilliant. Co-produced by Mike Spencer, it’s a bold statement of intent from an endlessly creative band on the cusp of major success in 2018.