"Imagine appealingly grainy angst-pop à la Blood Red Shoes shot through in leftfield with the conceptual imagination of someone like Melissa Auf der Maur, and you’ll get somewhere close to She Makes War." - Wears The Trousers, May 2010 - more press
London solo artist She Makes War aka Laura Kidd (previously session bassist for Tricky, I Blame Coco, Alex Parks & Lil' Chris, vocalist with The Young Punx, Redroche and Michael Gray) has been making waves this year with her tasty brand of grungy dystopian gloom-pop, punk rock independent spirit and whirlwind one-woman work ethic. An accomplished videomaker, photographer, writer and self confessed geek, Kidd has been keeping her loyal online fan base nourished with quirky promo videos, video blog episodes, free downloads, regular blog posts and remix contests, all stationed at http://www.shemakeswar.com.
The video for March single "Let This Be" - directed by Kidd and starring her musical mates as circussy figments of her hyperactive imagination - went viral in a week, also featuring hula hooping, ukulele playing and a turn in a Japanese animal costume, or Kigu suit. In June, album opener "Scared To Capsize" - directed by Judy Jacob (Pixies, Peter Gabriel, Kings of Leon) - continued the themes of love, loss and betrayal with a group of animals working together to get Laura's paper boat back on the water, and currently sits at third place in the Pepsi Max It Challenge.
And so to the brand new single, "I Am", released internationally on Monday 12th July. An ode to a lost love and a musing on the self, the song comes packaged with an acoustic B-side and three wildly different remixes, from Richmanu, Haberdasher and Kidd herself - download the ghostly Warriorgrrl mix for free.
Please look around this page for more about the video and sign up to the mailing list to stay in the loop with future SMW visual and musical releases.
Judy Jacob: Director/Visual Effects Judy is a Theatre/Design for Performance graduate of Central Saint Martins, London. Her impressive portfolio includes both independent and client driven projects across the spectrum of visual arts disciplines.
Offering unique concepts in short film, music video, performance, arts, live concerts and theatre, her company Beggar's Velvet has provided creative visual content for clients including Kings of Leon, Pixies, Paul Weller, Peter Gabriel, Coldplay and She Makes War - Judy also directed "Scared To Capsize".
GLS is an eco-friendly photographic studio, project space and art gallery located in the heart of North London. The GLS offers the only sustainable studio facilities in London to photographers, the media and fashion industry, and regularly organise events, workshops and exhibitions, which focus on the theme of sustainability.
Jenni Davis : Hair & Makeup Jenni has been working freelance as a make up artist for the past three years, and started out working in the world of film - her most recent credit is for "Breathe", an award winning feature out now on DVD.
Jenni's music video credits include The Guilty Ones and Vita and The Vicious, and she's also had work published in What Magazine, Grazia and Brazilian fashion and lifestye magazine B Revista.
WHAT / WHY / HOW?
Inspiration for the video came in March when Laura visited the Identity exhibition at London's Wellcome Collection. One of the pieces encouraged visitors to stand in front of a camera with an inbuilt delay, allowed people to view themselves a few seconds in the past. The effect was powerful, almost as if watching someone else, and fitted well with the mood of the song.
Director Judy Jacob ran with the idea, designing some brilliant chainmail makeup and ethereal eyebrows and using the cosy environs of Green Lens Studio to create a soft, otherworldly space.
