Don’t Say When by Blake Dantier – Behind The Scenes Video Shoot (Exclusive)

To celebrate the release of Don’t Say When by award-winning singer-songwriter and staunch Country traditionalist Blake Dantier, we bring you an exclusive behind the scenes look at the making of the accompanying music video.

Don’t Say When reveals a more sensitive side to Blake, who is better known for his good time drinking songs like Last Call and Wish You Were My Beer. He wrote the track for his Grandad who passed away a few years ago, who was a lover of fine scotch, red wine and a master on the accordion. Blake was too young to share a drink with him, and this song is about having that drink. 

Produced by Simon Johnson at Hillbilly Hut studios, Blake insisted the track feature an accordion part, as a nod to his grandfather, and the music video (shot and directed by Duncan Toombs of The Filmery) features his grandfather’s beloved accordion in the flesh.

Don’t Say When is the sixth single from Blake’s forthcoming debut album, Dry Season, set for release on March 25. Four of his self-penned singles from the album have already featured in the CountryTown Hot 50 airplay chart, with Last Call peaking at #8.

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Casting Couch 

The video for Don’t Say When was shot in February 2022, at a warehouse space full of vintage furniture, art and all sorts of weird junk, on the NSW Central Coast. 

The owner, Kim, let us shoot there all arvo and into the night. The man behind the camera was Duncan Toombs, of the Filmery. This warehouse was also in the same industrial block as his studio... so transporting all the gear was a piece of cake ;) 

I really wanted to steal the lamp in this photo – it’s a delicious 70s orange. Definitely one of the cooler pieces in the warehouse.

Dead Babies 

Remember when I said there was a lot of weird junk? This is getting up there for the weirdest... We spent the first couple of hours shooting me just walking around the place, touching all this stuff.

Part of the Crew

When you’re trying to shoot a music video on a budget, I guess you have to get your hands dirty... It was just Dunc and I on set (plus Kim and my fantastic publicist Jules, who took these photos) so setting up and moving around gear was a team effort. Can’t believe I was paying HIM though...

The Master At Work

There he is – doing the difficult job of making me look graceful. We used a mixture of tripod, hand held and gimbal setups to shoot this clip. 

At the time of this photo, it was probably about 7pm. It got dark in another hour or so and then there was a massive lightning storm. We made sure to get an angle that captured the light show. It held off raining while I drove home to the Blue Mountains that night. But the next day it bucketed down and caused flash flooding all over the area.

Mo’ Maintenance

Mo’ hair, mo’ maintenance. Moustache care on set is paramount. Even the slightest change in humidity can send that thing all out of whack. With no hair/make-up team it was all up to me... I also just about gave up on haircuts during the last NSW lockdown, so I was wrangling a fair mop too.

Accordion

There are a few key moments in the clip that tell a story. One of them is this accordion. The song, Don’t Say When, is about my late Grandad and this is his accordion. He was Mauritian, so, of course, he played accordion... I’m now the custodian of this one and I’m hoping I’ll learn to play it one day. I picked it up during lockdown in 2020 and quickly realised it was not going to be an easy feat... so I gave up in favour of easier things, like playing PlayStation and eating hot chips.

Whiskey

“Grandad liked a stiff drink / Straight scotch or red wine”. They’re the opening lines to the song, so rest assured there’s A LOT of scenes of me drinking whiskey in this clip. Well... we shot a lot of scenes of me drinking whiskey... whether or not they made the final cut depends on how drunk I looked. 

This whiskey was some really nice stuff – but it wasn’t mine. It belonged to Cass Hopetoun (my fiancée) but she jetted off to London the day of this shoot to go and see her brother (priorities right?!). So unbeknownst to her, I took her whiskey... and maybe the whiskey that was in that decanter when she left is not the same one in there now...

Woops, I Forgot To Hit Record

C’mon we’re not that amateur. But our faces do look like that’s what someone just said, in regards to the last 2 hours of footage. 

On the left – “Whaa –that’s a joke, right?” On the right – “That better be a f*cking joke”. 

Dunc’s setting up a massive ass light there cause all the natural light’s gone now. We spent the last hour of filming doing some performance with an acoustic guitar. We played the song back at double speed because apparently you look like an angel when the footage is slowed down to match the song at its normal speed. More importantly, you can do all your takes in half the time! Which meant I made it to KFC before closing time ;)

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