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How did UDD Get 'Terrace House' star Mizuki Shida for the 'Sigurado' music video?
Pinoy indie superstars UDD launched a new music video on Saturday for “Sigurado,” a single the band released earlier in the year.
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The four-piece band composed of Ean Mayor, Paul Yap, Carlos Tañada and Armi Millare played a full set at the Venice Piazza in McKinley Hill in Taguig last Saturday, October 7, before unveiling the video, which was directed by Nic Reyes and shot in Tokyo, Japan.
The song had been released in January, so the first question on everyone’s mind was why it took so long to come out with a proper music video.
“We were so busy that we never got around to doing one, nor scheduling it,” Toti Dalmacion, head honcho of Terno Recordings, where UDD is signed, told me.
But fans were in for a treat when the video was finally played. The overseas location was nothing new; UDD worked with the Singapore Tourism Board on their song “All The Good Things,” the music video of which was shot in the Lion City.
The big surprise in “Sigurado” is that it stars Mizuki Shida of the Japanese reality TV series "Terrace House", which airs on Netflix.
When I asked the Terno boss how Shida came to be involved in a UDD video, he said it all started with drummer Mayor, who is a "Terrace House" superfan.
According to Toti, Mayor was in Tokyo last year with some friends and decided to stop by the coffee shop where Shida works as a barista. Unfortunately, she wasn’t there.
But Mayor eventually got Toti hooked on the series as well.
“I became a fan of the show,” he said.
When Toti visited Tokyo in December 2016, he walked around the city with the new song. It was around that time that he said he started getting ideas for what the video was going to be like. It helped that “Sigurado” has elements of city pop, a type of music that eventually became a genre with roots in 1970s and 1980s Japan.
Just like Mayor, Toti made a stop at the coffee shop where Shida worked. He, too, was unlucky. Mizuki was nowhere to be found.
Toti huddled with Reyes when he got back to Manila to throw more ideas around about the video.
“I started toying with the idea of trying to get one or more of the "Terrace House" actors in the video,” Toti said.
In February, Toti flew back to Japan and made a second trip to the coffee shop. Finally, he laid eyes on Shida.
#uddsigurado in T-minus 28 hrs and 20mins #uddmizukizettai #terracehouse
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“I mustered up the courage to talk to her,” Toti said. “She was very nice. She gave me the card of her manager. I guess they saw the opportunity. Pumayag.”
The shoot was initially going to take place in March, but it was still a bit too cold, so they ended up moving it to July.
“The video is about a new couple,” Toti explained. “You know how it is, when you’re new boyfriend-girlfriend. There’s still some of that awkwardness. Medyo ilang pa.”
There were plans of asking another "Terrace House" actor to appear in the video, but when that didn’t pan out, they made some tweaks to the concept.
“That’s why you only see the hand of the guy,” Toti explained.
Shida flew to Manila last weekend to make an appearance at the video launch. Based on photos that have appeared on social media, she seemed happy with the result. Even the band, especially Mayor, looked pleased.
“For one thing, the band has always wanted to do a video without the members themselves in it,” Toti said.
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The question now is when the next UDD album is going to drop. Although the target is before the end of the year, Toti said the band isn’t making any promises.
“I don’t really know where they’re at right now, so I can’t really say for sure,” he said.
In the meantime, you can listen to Sigurado on streaming sites like Spotify. The video will be out later this week. — LA, GMA News
Paul John Caña is a writer and live music geek. Check out his blog manontheotherside.blogspot.com. Email him at pjcana@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @pauljohncana
