Alex Ross Perry: Exclusive Interview

Hey! Thank you for accepting our interview. To start, Can you tell us about the first meeting with Tobias Forge and how the collaboration started and evolved from a music video (J.H.K.M.) to a complete movie?

i didn't meet tobias until we were days away from shooting the jesus he knows me video, by which point we had been speaking for weeks about the video while also knowing that we had communicated a bit throughout the process of finishing metal myths and getting approvals for the various items in the whisky a go go pop up. but i met him during the filming of some chapters at the mausoleum a few days before, but he was Cardi at the time, so my first meeting with him was through a giant rubber head. i'd also been at a photoshoot in brooklyn months earlier to meet management and discuss metal myths filming, but he was working at the time so we didn't meet. the mystery was quite appealing, with a near miss, then meeting in character, and then finally hanging out during the video shoot. during the visit to the mausoleum, i was told the piece they were filming announced a tour culminating with two shows at the forum to be filmed for a movie. this was february 2023, and i said to please keep me in mind if the movie needed any help. one thing lead to another...

How did the band or Tobias react to the first draft of the film?

the first draft of the film was the first/final draft of what tobias wanted. the edit - of both the concert, which i wasn't involved with and then our narrative scenes - is done to his specifications, or with him on a call collaborating, so the first draft is basically halfway there. he was enthusiastic and positive as we edited our narrative moments, but we both wanted the same thing: for the edit of concert into backstage to be seamless and invisible at all times, both with picture and sound.