(((O))) Interview: Filmore!

With documentarian royal Louis Theroux recently covering the “manosphere”, and internet content now eating up so much of our time and headspace that the term “brainrot” has become part of common vernacular, Irish musician Filmore!’s new single, ‘EVERYTHING IS BRAINROTT’, couldn’t be more pertinent to the now, even with its video’s PS2 style graphics. Elise Price spoke to him about the project, incels, the Irish independent music scene, and fanfiction.

E&D: The project is about brainrot, the manosphere, and all the horrible stuff about the internet that’s inescapable at the moment. But I do feel that everyone’s experience with all that can be very specific, just because of how much there is and the sheer number of niche holes that you have the potential to fall down. So were there any specific sites or pieces of media that you drew reference from?

Filmore!: It’s all so inspired by Twitter, which I am unfortunately still on. I love Twitter – it’s interesting, it’s funny – but I will see, at least once a day, something that’s so batshit crazy that it singlehandedly ruins my day. The absolutely bonkers people on Twitter have been a massive influence on what [‘…BRAINROTT’] feels like and what it’s trying to get at.

E&D: And are there any experiences growing up with the internet that have also informed your work?

Filmore!: I’m of that demographic that had a sliver of time without the internet, so I have a little bit of perspective as to what it was like prior… And maybe it’s also that in semi-rural Ireland we were a bit late to the game. But it’s so ingrained and embedded in how I view the world, how I move through the world. I have a lot of love for the internet and online culture, so [‘…BRAINROTT’] isn’t me finger-wagging at people, but at the same time it’s very fucked up.

E&D: There’s an amount of making fun of the incel crowd that you have to do to stay sane – I definitely see that in the single, and especially in the artwork. Would you talk a little about your collaboration with Sofi, [the artist responsible both for the single artwork and the animated music video] and what you wanted the aesthetic side of the project to convey?

Filmore!: As I was writing the song, [the visuals] were a big factor in deciding how things would shape out. I wanted it to feel a bit like a PS2 video game, that era of graphics with the blown-out polygons. I liked the idea of, and also as a cost-saving measure, the video not having too much change scene to scene. The whole thing is playing with the idea of repetition, so let the video be a loop in and of itself. The whole point of the thing is to show addiction and habits; the video has a really nice synergy for the song, because things are clearly caught in a loop of unhealthy behaviour.

E&D: There’s also a certain aspect of PS2 games, at least the ones I played, that means each level is a reworking of the same template, with the same kind of mechanisms.

Filmore!: The levels get samey!

E&D: If you could deliver advice to the incel, manosphere side of the internet that are stuck in these unhealthy loops, what would you tell them?

Filmore!: My only advice, and this is a kind of double-edged sword, because there are some actually evil people out there, is that you have got to do what makes you happy. The manosphere shit is making you angrier, not happier – it’s failing you. These communities are really good at giving you someone to blame, whether that be women or brown people, but having someone to blame isn’t making you happier. It’s a kind of long-con promise – “if we just change this regulation or make women go back to this, everything will be fine and you’ll be happy”. If people keep on promising happiness down the line, and you keep giving them money and attention, and then the happiness doesn’t ever come, it’s a scam. But I don’t think there’s any use speaking to people who just enjoy harassing women or being a troll – there’s no communication there, and there’s nothing I can do for them. I’m trying to playfully engage with these heavy subjects, but I think that’s the only way to engage with a lot of stuff in life – I’ve got to be playful because that makes me happy.

E&D: Musically, are there any references that you’ve drawn from, or was it more organic because of the specificity of the topic?

Filmore!: Sonically, I’m always looking at someone like Underscores or 100 Gecs. There’s an Irish band, Bricknasty, that I like, because they’re very sincere and erratic in their messaging about music in a way that feels very honest and lacking polish. In the industry right now I feel like there’s an emphasis of things being really polished and fully formed, really sleek. I don’t really care about messiness or imperfection being a factor [of my music] – I actually enjoy those elements playing a role.

E&D: Obviously, being Irish and living in Ireland, you’re involved in the Irish independent music scene. Are there any differences in that landscape compared to England in how artists emerge there?

Filmore!: I would have said that it was a much easier process to clear a path [in Ireland] but I think right now though there is an emphasis on Irish music, it’s an emphasis on the clean, label-friendly, presentable stuff. The weird, alternative indie stuff is being pushed to the side. Like right now Irish music is really strong but this flavour of it feels less so. So it’s tougher.

E&D: Do you have any contemporaries in the scene that you’d want to recommend here?

Filmore!: Niall Tarmey, who is on [‘EVERYTHING IS BRAINROTT’] is very, very dope. Niall Tarmey, Donny (stylised as ‘donny.’) – those guys are sick and doing weird stuff. Evan Kennedy – he’s actually living over in London right now, but he’s a similar vibe.

E&D: If you or the ‘. . .BRAINROTT’ project were an old-school internet site or app, what would it be?

Filmore!: Ooh I like that a lot! Part of me wants to say Bebo but I think that’s not fully accurate. It would probably be one of those old sites where you played Flash games, but maybe the illegally branded Flash games. Like “is this a Naruto dating sim? Or a Ben10 illegal adventure game? I don’t even know if this thing is licensed. It’s clunky as hell but there’s something indictive about it.” Or any place that’s doing fanfiction – Wattpad.

E&D: I mean, there are careers in fanfiction now! I feel like everything that’s blown up recently was originally a fanfiction.

Filmore!: It’s funny, because I think on paper people long for the high-brow but we really want the kinda shitty low-brow. We actually want messiness. I’m a Love Island addict. I’ll watch prestige television but I do love some Love Island. We want that brain rotting stuff, it appeals to us for a reason, it’s not coming from nowhere.

E&D: Do you think there’s a positive side to brainrot then, that it’s necessary?

Filmore!: For sure. It gives you avenues to play in the way other stuff doesn’t. Watching a bad movie can be so cathartic. Watching a bad movie and then taking the piss with your mates – that’s a special thing, a valuable experience. I think indulging yourself in dumber, silly stuff is the same reason people love Halloween – you get to play pretend.

The single and video ‘EVERYTHING IS BRAINROTT’ by Filmore! ft. Niall Tarmey is out now. Pre-save HERE