Getting High on Tainted Love

Sometimes it feels like every video for a house track is a love story—usually one with beautiful teens cavorting in the late summer sun before their relationship ends on a sad note. They are not unlike commercials for the HPV vaccine. The video for Samo Sound Boy's "Your Love" is a love (and lust) story but that's where the similarities end, as this video winds up with some very kinky zentai suits, bondage, and a storyline that will have you going, "Wait? What?" It's a pretty shocking statement, even from a dude who runs a label called Body High, so we tracked down the director Eugene Kotlyarenko—recently celebrated in the New York Times for the technologically-advanced storytelling of his 0s and 1s film—and asked him to tell us what in the hell is going on.

Director's statement from Eugene about the making of Samo Sound Boy's "Your Love":

If all men are dogs (this is true), then what are women? Can you hear the dogs barking? Can you hear the squeak of the dishes being washed?

Samo and I met up at Max Martin's Social Club, on a Sunday night at the HMS Bounty, to discuss the prospect of making a narrative music video for one of his songs. He said the song he had in mind was inspired by all the unconventional ways love comes together in the city of LA. Samo, Max, and I started to brainstorm scenarios then and there.

A few days later, we gathered at Samo's apartment to discuss "Your Love." Like many revelatory apartment meetings, we came to the conclusion there was only one location where we'd be able to do all the crazy shit we wanted to: in that very same apartment.

One thing that drew everyone—but especially the actors—in, was the complicated element of roleplay and "torture" in the video. We were looking for new ways to represent that without falling into the standard S&M cliches, in terms of imagery and power behavior. So when it comes to what might be truly torturous today, nothing could hit harder than being forced to watch the person you love lead a kinky, alternative existence with someone you were about to make out with.. .while you hang upside down. Though for the full 2014 experience, make sure you're watching it all stream live on an iPad as filmed by an iPhone, and that your lusted-after unattainables are in shiny Zentai suits. The lead actor, Hunter, along with Max and Sam, continuously challenged me to think outside the straightforward path a story like this might take. They truly pushed the video forward.

Along those lines, it was crucial to me that this wasn't simply a revenge or entrapment tale, but that in fact it have a double twist at the end. This came courtesy of Max, who with a few succinct words devised a way to show that the whole needle-to-the-neck, bound upside punishment was actually a gift; an act they were all deriving pleasure from. To me, that last second revelation really makes an interesting comment on the unexpected ways love and devotion can manifest themselves, while also adding a rewatchability to the clip.

I can't imagine the video going as smoothly as it did without the trust and dedication of these actors. Hunter's grit and endurance during the grueling upside-down scenes was truly admirable. Everyone's generally high level of openness eliminated any air of vanity on set. To truly look good, you have to lose the fear of how dark, dirty, absurd or stupid you might get. Take the plunge into the abyss and come out looking iconic on the other side. I know that these young performers did. I partly cast them for said youth, which felt appropriate in the context of role-playing that might otherwise seem too vicious or weird. With youth on your side, many unconventional aesthetic decisions cannot only be excused, but become integrated into youth culture; that is: cool culture.

Everything technical went smoothly as usual, because of that super slick group of amazing talent-balls I love to work with in LA. An iPhone stabilizer was jerry-rigged, perfectly round holes were cut into Zentai suits, building guards were surreptitiously avoided, and Adam Villacin's awesome custom back tattoo was smoothly applied.

I've sat with this video longer than any other, slowly finessing it with my editor, while Samo and Max often constructively chimed in. I like the milky, gray look we've given to the proceedings and the way the subtitles sit in the black cropped part of the screen. I'm very excited to share "Your Love" with the world, because I know there's a lot in here for someone to get lost in."