Great minds don’t think alike. But they often gravitate towards one another.
Fontaines D.C. and Andrea Arnold are those formidable creatives with mutual respect, uniting on a one-off project where music meets film.
The Irish alternative rock act is currently in Australia for a national tour that includes headline shows and festival spots, kicking off Thursday, February 27th at Perth Festival.
Arnold, the British filmmaker who helmed “American Honey,” “Fish Tank” and Academy Award-winner “Wasp”, won’t be joining them on the road, though she waves the flag as both a collaborator and a fan.
By cutting the promo for Fontaines D.C.’s “Bug”, using repurposed video shot for her latest film, “Bird”, Arnold made her first foray into music videos.
The clip includes exclusive unseen footage from the film, which hit UK and US cinemas on November 8th, 2024 and has arrived in Australia after it was acquired by Mushroom Studios and The Reset Collective.
“I’ve been asked to do a bunch (of videos), and I’m always tempted because I just love music,” Arnold tells Tone Deaf over Zoom. “I’m always in the middle of doing a film, and I’m not very good at spreading myself too thin. I don’t take on loads of things.”
The planets, on this occasion, aligned. “Bug” just happens to be a central character in “Bird”, played by Barry Keoghan.
“I wouldn’t normally allow my film out of the confines of its universe,” she explains. “Once you’ve made the film, it exists in its own right and it needs to be left that way.”
Rules are meant to be smashed, and Arnold, having fallen in love with the band several years ago, was in the mood. “When I hear their songs, it feels like part of everything I understand. It felt completely natural to extend my little universe with them”.
Arnold is such a follower, she saw the band at Glastonbury Festival and squeezed her way into the front. When she asked for permission to use some of their works in “Bird”, the feeling was mutual.
The Dublin outfit’s music is featured prominently in “Bird”, and guitarist Carlos O’Connell makes a cameo in the film, which also stars Franz Rogowski and Nykiya
Across their career, the Irishmen have amassed three Grammy Award nominations, and four top 10s on the Official UK Albums Chart, including a No. 1 with 2022’s Skinty Fia. Their fourth and latest LP, 2024’s Romance, peaked at No. 2 in the UK, and No. 6 on the ARIA Chart.
Produced by Handsome Tours, part of TEG, Fontaines D.C.’s tour Down Under wraps March 10 at Melbourne’s Palace Foreshore, then heads east to play Auckland’s Spark Arena on March 12th.
“They’re really great,” Arnold enthuses. “They’ve been touring for ages, they must be so tired. I do worry about them.”
Now, with a music video under her belt, will Arnold try her hand at rocking out? She’s dreamed about it. “I was never in a band, actually. It’s one of my regrets,” she remarks. “Never in a band, never a surfer.”
Fontaines D.C. 2025 Tour of Australia and New Zealand
Ticket information available via handsometours.com
Thursday, February 27th — Perth Festival
Saturday, March 1st — Brisbane Riverstage
Sunday, March 2nd — Yours & Owls Festival, Wollongong
Thursday, March 6th — Sydney Opera House Forecourt
Saturday, March 8th– Palace Foreshore, Melbourne
Sunday, March 9th — Golden Plains, Meredith
Monday, March 10th — Palace Foreshore, Melbourne
Wednesday, March 12th — Spark Arena, Auckland
