Premiere: Spring Break Share Passionate Video 'Kisses' + Interview

Auckland dance-pop duo Spring Break have unveiled a hot and sweaty video for their latest single 'Kisses', the party-starting crew's first release in six years. The team of Blaise and Freberits (aka Ryan McPhun of the Ruby Suns and James Dansey of Hang Loose) shift the fun from the stage to the office in their new clip directed by Kermath Davies and co-written by Lee Smith-Gibbons which we're excited to premiere here, depicting the duo operating a frisky business named Kisses Inc., whose main mission seems to be to get clients smooching in a closet. The video features a raft of local music personalities including Matthew Crawley (Conjurors), Vincent H.L., Bradley Fafejta (Créme Jéan), and Edward Castelow (Dictaphone Blues), along with an appearance from rib-tickling Snapchat comedian Tom Sainsbury. 'Kisses' blends the irresistible pop moves of George Michael with the sly inventiveness of Sparks, and of course things get a bit wild towards the end.

Spring Break are celebrating the release of their dynamite clip with a can't-miss party at Auckland's Whammy Backroom on Friday 18th January. We tracked down Blaise and Freberits who dished the dirt via email on their latest work and more, experience 'Kisses' here and read their words below...

How's Spring Break been spending their Summer?

Summer? Holy crap. Last time I looked we were up to our necks in furs and snow trying to learn wellness mantras on a Northern European fasting retreat. Summer huh? Woh.

Your new video depicts the work / play dynamic in an office environment with a cheeky twist. Can you please tell us how your video came about and who was involved in its creation?

While of course we are the sole creative inspiration behind everything Spring Break, our creativity really rubbed off on two individuals, we became their muses so to speak - director Kermath Davies, and writer Lee Smith-Gibbons. They saw how we conducted our day to day operations and no doubt thought, god, this has to be captured, and we no doubt thought, god, we definitely agree. Definitely.

I really liked how your video showed how work can also be fun, the first bit reminded me of some of the antics we get up to in the UTR offices. How does Spring Break optimise productivity in the studio? 

No, there we have to disagree with you Chris. I'm sure it's easy for the likes of you at the UTR mansions, looking down from your ivory towers while sipping champagne with ice on the side, to say work can be fun. But for us, and literally billions of other good kiwi small business owners, work is just honest simple hard graft. Day in, day out, bottom line, stock report, meetings meetings meetings, buy buy, sell sell sell, I want that on my desk in the morning, I told you landlines are just too expensive, fax that to me THIS INSTANT. I can in no way see how our jobs can be comparable if yours is fun. Not ours, not one bit.

And to answer your question about time optimisation, the answer is that there is no I in team. And that we are forbidden to touch anything in the studio in case we break it, our managers said so.

If you don't mind me asking - were all the actors in the kissing booth 'couples' in real life?

The great thing about Kisses Inc, is that even if you subscribe to the idea of 'the couple' in regular life, once we make a match for you in the kissing booth, labels apply no more. Lips can just be lips, tongues become simply tongues, kissing becomes your whole world. Sure, following a session, the feelings of oddness, those "oh god, what have I done, did I just pay two ageing male models to organise a stranger for me to make out with, the long haired model could barely form a sentence" moments crop up from time to time, but for that blessed five minutes, couples don't exist, the world doesn't exist, only a sea of passion exists, and you my friend are Neptune, it's ruler. Also your partner is the ruler as well. Of the sea of passion. You are both Neptunes.

What does the future hold for Spring Break in 2019?

No one knows, we aren't Nostradamus and Doc Emmett Brown and / or Michael J. Fox, we are Blaise and Freberits, we are Spring Break, we are always and forever ready to party, and this is so real.