Frequently Asked Questions
Some of the questions that I
have been asked over the years about my music videos.
Starting with the most frequently asked question...
Are your music videos for sale?
I'm afraid the answer to that is no. Selling my music videos would be
breaking any number of laws and leave myself open to copyright infringement. I
know that some of the sites out there have found and exploited the loopholes and
maybe I will but not yet. The copies of my videos that have made it into the
public domain have either been raffle prizes or part of a charity auction. For
those of you keeping score: The original Xena and Gabrielle character videos
(Bitch and Let Me Entertain You) went for £150, Tears Two: Farewell video
(Honor Him, Now We Are Free) reached £60 and one of the Soul Mates videos (Like
A Prayer) was bought for £120.
Why did you start making music
videos?
BY THE GODS!
That's why I started making music videos. Somewhere between the third and fourth
seasons of Xena: Warrior Princess a friend, Dean, and I began to organise Xena
themed evenings at a London bar. We already had access to episodes newly aired
in the United States but not in the United Kingdom, but we wanted something that
could only be found if you came to By The Gods - music videos. With only two of
us involved in the organising the task fell to either myself or Dean; he bought
the equipment and I brought the ideas. We worked on the first two videos
together and then Dean was relegated to getting the videos whenever I shouted
the name of an episode.
When did you start making music
videos?
At 16 I attempted to make a Star Trek: The Next Generation music video for
Will Riker and Deanna Troi utilising two of my dads VCRs. I think I got as far
as 30 seconds before I got bored and gave up. At 18 I had moved onto Babylon 5
and a music video for Susan Ivanova and Talia Winters using the aforementioned
technique. That attempt may have got as far as 45 seconds before I got
frustrated with my lack of progress. I was 20 when I finally sat down at a
computer with a pile of Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary
Journeys videos determined to at last finish a music video. In January of 1999
after a baptism of fire (well I did pick an extended album version of the song)
'Total Eclipse Of The Heart' premiered at By The Gods. So to sum up, I'm not
really sure when I started making music videos.
What other genres do you make
music videos for?
Bad Girls: A British drama set in HMP Larkhall, a fictional woman's prison
in London. It has some great characters and situations for general music videos
and the all important girl/girl sexual tension between prisoner Nikki Wade and
governor Helen Stewart, the ultimate in forbidden love!
Birds Of Prey: Action/Adventure series set in the comic strip world of
Gotham, so there's the usual racing across rooftops, punch-ups with dastardly
villains and a repertoire of one-liners. As for the subtext, I come down firmly
on the side of Barbara and Helena, there's just something about a bat and a cat!
Stargate SG1: Sci-fi series where four fearless heroes step through a
large circle every week and arrive on a planet that looks a lot like Earth as
well, but they do it in style... and khakis. The girl/girl stuff here is a few
fathoms lower than subtext, somewhere around platonic friendship with a few
smiles that could indicate something more when Sam and Janet are at home!