Portland singer Corrina Repp’s new video for "Woods" has just been released (see below), and it’s batshit crazy. We’re talking a creepy male triumvirate, some women with fruit loops glued to them, and a singer with a waterfall for a face kinda crazy. All of which is what makes it such compelling viewing, underscoring as it does the haunting quality of the track and the special kind of weirdness Repp embodies. We talked to local video maker Jay Winebrenner (Ages and Ages, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks) to get the lowdown on the loopy logic behind the video, shot at the Information Warehouse in Southeast and in Forest Park.

How did you come up with the video concept?

I heard the track and thought it was haunting and beautiful and really ripe for imagery.  My goal was to try to create an obtuse, mysterious fever dream kind of vibe.  Her slow dancing with various representations of masculinity seemed like it would work well.  

Who are the characters that populate the video?

The male characters in the video are “Panic Man”, “Sophisticated Man” and “Creep Man” played wonderfully by Bruce Jennings, Keith Garlid and Joe von Appen.   They are all friends of mine and they dialed into the vibe with little to no direction. I have a mild obsession with masculinity, panic, sophistication and creeps, so I was lucky Corrina was comfortable letting me mess around with those interests in the video. I wanted kind of a mysterious off-putting inverse of Corrina, as she looks all angelic with her platinum hair and casual beauty. 

Where did the waterfall come in?

Corrina’s face transforming into a waterfall imagery was aped directly from the album art by Ashod Simonian.  The idea of tying the video in thematically to the album itself seemed like a good idea to me.  That, and I wanted to animate the art, because I think it rules. 

So what’s with the Froot Loop ladies?

The cereal-faced women imagery was inspired by one of my many dives down dark internet holes, and the idea of taking something stupid like gluing Froot Loops on someone’s face and twisting it into something to be taken seriously seemed like it would be fun.  The girls who played the part (Maryam Troncelliti and Jen Oleson) did a great job and suffered through the make up and the glue and the irritated skin like champs.  They even went and got a couple whiskeys in costume after the shoot.  And they aren't actually Froot Loops—they're the generic off brand.  I had to throw the rest of the box into my compost bin because they tasted like someone dumped granulated sugar and deodorant down your throat. 

So my advice would be to buy them only if you plan on gluing them to your face. 

 Corinna Repp's album  The Pattern of Electricity was released on Caldo Verde earlier this year.