Blink-182's Mark Hoppus: 'After Midnight' Video is 'a Little Troubled'

Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus: ‘After Midnight’ Video is ‘a Little Troubled’

2011-12-06

Story by Cat Badra

Blink-182’s new music video shows the band’s serious side

Blink-182 are long known for spitting out upbeat, frenzied punk-pop, and “dark” or “depressing” certainly don’t seem apt descriptors for their style. But, when it came shooting the video for the band’s current single, “After Midnight,” the boys of Blink hung up their party hats and went for a darker, more serious quality.

As bass player Mark Hoppus describes it, the band took their time finding just the right treatment for the video, and they wanted something a little more “troubled” than depicted in past Blink-182 clips. “We went through probably 30 different treatments for this video, and a lot of them were great, and a lot of them weren’t so great but [director] Isaac [Rentz’s] stuck out as a really cool idea,” Hoppus told MTV News. “We wanted it to be something different than just a bunch of people having fun and having a party; we wanted it to be a little darker, a little more troubled, and Isaac’s treatment did that.” So, while they stuck with the same director behind their recent, wild child music video for “Up All Night,” the new clip couldn’t be more different.

The dark video, Hoppus added, fits the character of “After Midnight”: “The song itself is about troubled love, it’s about damaged people who fall in love, and the video takes place in a psychiatric ward, and this guy and this girl escape from their rooms and have a night of romance and passion and fun and wild existence …” The video, off Blink-182’s current full-length Neighborhoods, is set to debut in the following weeks. While you’re waiting, check out Blink-182’s last video for “Up All Night” on the artist page. (Courtesy press photo.)

Author
Recent Posts

Cat Badra

Meet the expert - Cat Badra is a music writer for Audio Ink Radio and a range of other music, sports and lifestyle publications. She's a graduate of Michigan State University with a master's degree in theater and speech. Contact her at cat@audioinkradio.com.