Video Of The Week #12: Half – Soft Play [PREMIERE]

Does anybody remember The Adventures of Pete & Pete?  If you’re of a certain age you might have some fond memories of the Nickelodeon live-action series, that focused on the funny but sometimes kind of weird adventures of two brothers both named Pete Wrigley.

North East-based bedroom producer Half remembers the show well.  So much so that he’s made it the basis of the video to his latest single ‘Soft Play.’  Accompanied by Half’s own evocative, densely layered ambient track, the video condenses the story of the Pete & Pete episode ‘What We Did on Our Summer Vacation’ down to a lean three minutes.  The combination means that the touching nature of the episode – as the kids try to track down the kind but lonely Mr Tastee – isn’t lost, but is given a slightly more abstract spin.  After all, Mr Tastee might seem a little bit creepy at first (what with his giant ice cream head), but he plays a crucial role in the youths’ summer activities.

Half talked us through the process of making the video: “The idea for the video came from thinking the distorted keys in the intro of the track sounded like an ice cream van, which triggered a memory of an episode of ‘Pete and Pete’ which was a firm favourite TV show of mine in my early teens.  There wasn’t show like it before and it’s difficult to imagine such an oddball programme with a host of left-of-centre cameos pitched at kids being commissioned today.”

He continued: “Anyway, the episode in question which the ‘Soft Play’ promo ‘borrows’ the footage from centres around an ice-cream man called Mr Tastee, complete with an oversized Frank Sidebottom style oversized head.  The Petes inadvertently drive Mr Tastee out of town by trying to befriend him and it’s a pretty touching episode, as a lot of them were.  I feel as though the 3-and-a-half-minute cut retains the heart and sentiment which is in keeping with the track itself.  Obviously my thanks go to the creators of the show, without the fantastic raw material to work with in the first place it simply would not exist.  I just hope no one from Nickelodeon decides to sue!”

Watch the video to ‘Soft Play’ exclusively above, and find out more about Half on Bandcamp and Twitter.