Watch: New Shaa’ir and Func Video For “Stay”

A still from the video for “Stay”. Photo courtesy: Joel Sames

It only takes a few seconds for the video of Shaa’ir + Func’s song “Stay” to pull you in completely. With the camera cutting a path up a darkened staircase in an abandoned building, and the lighting revealing just as much as it hides, the video, which is over four minutes, is a pacy mix of stop motion and live animation.

We met Swiss photographer and filmmaker Joel Sames, who directed the video in 2012, and is back in Mumbai for a couple of days. Says Sames, who was introduced to Shaa’ir + Func by Mumbai-based DJ Uri, “I was hanging out with Randolph [Func] a lot, we were talking about ideas ”“ he saw my work, and was like, ah, you wanna do a video for us?” The video was shot in an old apartment in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra, and Sames tell us that the location complemented the concept perfectly. “There were beautiful patterns and colors on the walls, and the empty building was so perfectly fitting to what we were trying to say ”“ the statement about Mumbai’s nightlife and restrictions, and how the whole scene moved more into the underground. So it’s perfect for a video like this, much nicer than a proper nightclub.”

It’s a concept and culture the photographer is familiar with. “We pretty much know from Europe or from Switzerland. We take over empty buildings, bring the sound system in, and you know, just do it, don’t ask for permissions. It’s fitting to the culture of Shaa’ir + Func, and my culture as well, which isn’t, you know, hanging around in fancy nightclubs,” he adds.

“Stay” is the second video release from the album Align by Shaa’ir + Func. Watch the video here.