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Official HIM
street team UK
Interview with Eugene Riecansky
Acclaimed and multi-award winning director, motion graphics and animation artist Eugene Riecansky's resume is something to be envious about for any artist who is in the business. Creating CGI designs, websites and music videos for over 20 years for such names as Madonna, Will.I.Am, Lady Ga Ga, Rihanna and Jim Carrey, just to name a few and quite recently, HIM.
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Eugene's work and friendship with the band started quite few years ago but it was after the video for Scared To Death in 2010 is where fans learned his name. After that, he's done videos for Like St. Valentine, unofficial video for Dying Song, Strange World and recently for All Lips Go Blue. He's also currently working on heartagram.com and with the websites opening date still unknown, we caught up with Eugene to ask few questions about his experience with HIM and what's in store for the future.




-- Your latest work with the band was for All Lips Go Blue music video. It was very well received and so far it is the favorite video from the new album. A lot of people commented by saying that it reminded them of Rip Out The Wings Of A Butterfly mixed with And Love Said No videos. When the band contacted you, was it because of the visual stuff you work with and it was their specific idea and request or was it a result of brainstorming for you?
As you know, I've been working with them for a few years now so we have a good trust relationship going. Ville just asked me to come up with an idea. Whenever I've been on tour with them, they've always loved playing chess in their downtime, so I thought that would be a nice 'theme' to use in a video. I also have a passion for playing cards, so I just mixed them together.
I wanted to create something odd and something that didn't look photo real. It's not meant to be like Avatar. I wanted to keep everything looking simple and almost graphic in it's style. If I'd have wanted it to be photo real, it would have been !
The band loved the idea from my initial treatment and it was a green light from there.


-- Each person sees the video differently by trying to figure out the symbolism behind it, for example, the rough sea or the broken chess pieces, and also by trying to connect the lyrics with the video itself. Is there a direct symbolism or a story behind the video?
I don't really do 'storyline' videos. I normally just do shots that I think look cool. I'm simple in my approach, whilst others are deep and meaningful.
Some directors create videos to the lyrics or stories. I'm not one of them. I just make stuff that I think will look cool and if it has a hidden message, then that's a bonus. I'm a big fan of the viewer deciding what they see in a video or image. I know what I see, so I'll leave the rest up to you guys. One 'symbolism' I guess is that the King never crumbles and feels like it's protected by his queens in the end shot....
​--How long did it take to shoot the video?
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The video was shot in one day. I arrived a few days before to sort out the studio and meet the DP (Anssi Leino - who was super amazing BTW) I arrived at 7.30am and the band arrived at around 10am. We shot Gas first, then Burton. Mige and Linde after lunch ( and a quick rendition of Lucifer's Chorale) and then Ville began filming around 3.30ish. We were done by 6pm and all back to my hotel for a few drinks.
​It was one of the least stressful and calmest shoots I've ever done !
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-- So far the new videos for the singles have been split between you and Stefan Lindfors but there has been rumors and even short previews online of videos that are not singles like Hearts At War. Do you know anything about that? Are there any plans to film something more like short montages for all the songs from Tears On Tape like HIM did with Venus Doom?











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-- One other quite recent video you shot with HIM was of course for Strange World at Finnvox Studio. How did that come about?
Seppo (the band's manager) invited me to come over to Helsinki to create some extra content for the album release. It was my first time in Helsinki and I instantly loved the place. I've been back a few times since and always enjoy my time there.
I was already working with them on the Strange World album layout and a few other bits. I spent 2 days filming the band. The first day was setting up and filming some interview footage and the second day was all of the live session clips. We then decided to use the live session for the Strange World video. I love the part in Heartkiller when Ville accidentally knocks the camera and then apologizes. I left the clip in because I thought it was a lovely and unseen moment that the fans would love to see.

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-- On Twitter you’ve mentioned that you have the ‘making of’ All Lips Go Blue. Will you be releasing that and do you have any more behind the scenes footage like from previous music videos that you would like or planning to share with us?
I have the entire day filmed, plus some vfx breakdowns of the video. All the photos I've been tweeting are from the making of film. It all looks great and I made sure the camera operator got interesting footage, so fans could really see what goes on behind the scenes of a HIM shoot. I have a ton of stuff I've shot over the years that on-ones ever seen .....
I just need a few days spare to put it all together .. I'll try and get it cut over the next few weeks..... honest.

-UPDATE - It's taken me a while to reply to this interview and I'm currently cutting the first part now... I'll release it in a few days.







I loved shooting those short ones I made for Screamworks. They were super simple and totally left up to me to create. I had a small budget for each one and shot and did everything myself. For instance, the one in the woods, was shot in my forest behind my house. My children feature in the video and they were also operating the lights ! I bought a shit TV from a charity shop, got Ville to film himself writing down the lyrics and played it on the TV in the middle of the woods. No big LA film crew or catering truck. Just me, mucking about.
The raining video simply came about because it started filming and I ran around with the camera, shooting anything and everything I could.
Have I dodged the question well enough? I'm sure we'll make more smaller video clips ....
-- Aside from directing, you've also created the new version of Heartagram.com
Yup, we've been playing around with Heartagram.com It will evolve further but not sure when ... It's more of an online visual HIM playground rather than a record company official website. We'll see what comes next! I know everyone is keen (I'm getting regular tweets and emails about it) All I can say is that time is limited for the band at the moment and what comes will come ...
-- There's been few interviews with photographers that often work with the band or just Ville alone and they've all said that it‘s been very easy to work with them since they are always relaxed and professional. Now we want to know how is it working with the guys behind the camera lens? Did you have to give them directions or was it more improvised work?

Ville is the easiest and nicest person I've had to direct. He is always receptive to letting me do what I want. He trusts me enough to let me just get on with it. It's about him respecting other artists enough to trust their judgement and have faith in what they make. In Venere Veritas was the first thing I made for HIM and we never looked back from there...
The others are just as good. Mige, though is always keen to get off camera. He's always telling me after the first take that I've got what I need and can he go yet (you'll see what I mean in the making of!!) ... They are always keen to do a good job and we all work great together and have a good time as well.
That reminds me .. I have a great outtake of Mige from All Lips Go Blue ... I'll dig it out and put it online....


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-- You’ve been working with HIM for a few years now. What can you say about them, what makes them stand out from the others for you to continue working with them?
For me, it's a bit of everything. I love them as friends and respect them as artists. We work great together and have fun along the way. Appreciation is always important to me when I work with someone. If they just take the work and never say thanks then I'm instantly moving on from them. HIM appreciate what I do and make for them and vice versa. As I choose my main clients, it's important for me to have a connection with that client. I'm not simply here to make stuff and have no contact. I can phone or email them whenever I need feedback, advice or to offer up another idea.... that personal connection is what keeps me working with them ...
Why they keep me, I can't answer!!! Ha!
-- Since you are a fan, have you had the chance to listen to Tears On Tape and if so, what’s your favorite song from the new album?
Ha... Lucifer's Chorale! Not strictly a song I guess, but man, does it rock.... The clip for the website just came to me when we were filming All Lips Go Blue. We had the amps and I quickly grabbed Linde over lunch and asked him to play the tune. We got it in one take. I wanted to make it super super crazy wild but the band felt that it was best being simple... although, I did add a bit of extra 'whack' to the clip!
-- Thank you for taking your time to answer our questions and we wish you luck in all your future projects.
​Thanks... I'll try and keep tweeting visual nuggets as I know you guys all love them ...
|Photo credit to Eugene Riecansky|
May 2013