Here We Go Magic - "How Do I Know" Music Video - REDEFINE magazine - music art film journalism

Portland director Sean Pecknold has put together a brand new video for Here We Go Magic’s “How Do I Know,” starring experimental dancer Janet Pants. In the middle of a desert landscape or along the side of pools, Miss Pants comes to life like a wind-up robot, full of awkward moves and strange puppet-like animations that make a lyrics like, “How do I know if I love you?” seem to demand an emphatic “ALL OF THIS!” for an answer.

Pecknold was first introduced to the music of Here We Go Magic on a road trip, and a line of synchronicitous experiences led to his directing the film. Here We Go Magic’s upcoming record, A Different Ship, is out now on Secretly Canadian.

ABOUT THE “HOW DO I KNOW” MUSIC VIDEO, FROM THE PRESS RELEASE
[Sean] Pecknold explains, “It takes place in the not-so-distant future where you will be able to custom order human like robots for your pleasure, and although some people will probably still be partial to the human flesh, I think some conflicts of emotion will arise. Humans, love, sex, technology, dancing, the future!”

“I was driving from Joshua Tree to Palm Springs on the highway, and my brother who was privy to the new Here We Go Magic record, said ‘You have to hear this song.’ So he put it on and we listened to it a couple times all 5 of us smiling with the wind in our hair. Then literally as we pulled into the parking lot in Palm Springs I got a message from the band about maybe doing a video for that very song.”

He says of his vision for the track, “I wanted to return to the strangeness and warmth of the Palm Springs area to shoot a little story about a man torn between two choices in his life. When listening to the jam I kept seeing a human-like robot dancing on the side of the highway, so I incorporated that into a light-hearted, literal take on the question posed in the song.”