Although a tabletop flourishing with streamers, punch, and groovy cakes is no strange sight for the inhabitants of Cantaloupia—in fact, this is a quite regular occurrence—the celebration on the afternoon of Saturday, February 22nd marked a special occasion. More than 50 Cantaloupians gathered before large, white screen hung from the wall of Arsenal Mediaworks in Philadelphia, PA. A project more than a year and a half in the making, it was the premiere of Miss Cantaloupe’s first music video for their original song, “Paradigm Shift.”
When they’re not out gallivanting through galaxies, the dream-pop band makes their landing at their earthly nest in Philadelphia, PA. Through song, story-telling, and music, they share with the people of earth all of their adventures from their intergalactic mission: the location and rescue of their leader Miss Cantaloupe.
“Paradigm Shift” is off of Miss Cantaloupe’s self-titled 2017 album. Christina Klaproth, band founder, singer, and songwriter, takes on the character of Princess Paradigm. In a 2017 interview with NEPAudio, she explained that a paradigm shift is “all about leaving the model. Princess Paradigm embodies the whole idea of the paradigm shift and breaking out of that mold.”
James O’Brien III, director and cinematographer of the “Paradigm Shift” video, pulled this idea into the ocular realm from the song lyrics themselves and with little direction from Klaproth. The shoot consisted of a total of five film days over the span of four locations: Klaproth’s own apartment, the streets of South Philadelphia, Arsenal Media’s “psychedelic rock cave,” and the Wissahickon hiking trails.
“Working with [O’Brien] was a dream. [The entire crew was] so professional and so very good at what they do. The vision they came up with was more than I could have ever dreamt,” Klaproth said.
The short takes viewers on a tour of a paradigm shift, using Klaproth as the subject. In the opening scenes, she’s rifling through bills, Philadelphia Parking Authority-issued tickets, and other usual paper pests that come with adulthood. While taking a ride on her Vespa scooter, she approaches a forset staircase with two mystical nymphs—who have been following her the entire video—enticing her to drink a potion.
“I think the girls can be symbolic of this enchanted, other side of things: the magic we don’t see when we’re blinded by the day-to-day grind. [In the video] they were invisible to me, even though I saw them [becuause] they were spirit guides… through this experience,” Klaproth explained.
After drinking the potion, Klaproth wanders further into the woods where she finds herself whisked away into a psychedelic cave. Here, she is glowed up into a full-on rock star with an entire band backing her. At her exit, she has transformed, growing wings and joining the other forest mystics at a bonfire.
“This is just a precursor for more things to come,” Kalproth said. “We kind of have the bug for music videos now. We’re going to create more visual content to go along with our stories because we’re a very visual band.”
Visual band, indeed. For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of catching one yet, Miss Cantaloupe’s shows are just as theatric as this video. Find one soon and stay tuned for an upcoming festival schedule by following them on Instagram and Facebook!
NEPAudio 