Today, British award-winning artist, actress and activist Kate Nash has revealed her Aidan Zamiri-directed video for her latest single, “Bad Lieutenant.” A UK garage-inspired track about “being able to handle anything that’s thrown at you,” Nash explains.
Watch the video for “Bad Lieutenant” HERE.
Speaking of the song’s sonic origins, Kate reveals, “I wanted to write something a bit throwback, take it back to my UK garage roots and I came up with ‘Bad Lieutenant’ as a title.” She continues, “I loved how absurd it was to refer to myself a bad lieutenant. It’s pretty ridiculous considering the movie. It just felt like UK garage to me. I then turned it into my own thing.”
Filmed over the course of a month (including in Kate’s hometown of Harrow in the UK), the video features both Nash and the video’s heroine, 14-year-old British amputee, Tilly Lockey, who is “literally the definition of a bad lieutenant,” according to Kate. On how Tilly came to be involved, Kate explains, “My sister’s godmother introduced me to Tilly about 9 years ago, I found her story so inspiring, it really moved me. Tilly survived meningococcal septicaemia but had both of her hands amputated in the process when she was just 15 months old. I participated in an art campaign her family were running to help raise awareness and funds of her situation. Years later my dad shows me this documentary about what she’s up to now and I was yet again so inspired by Tilly and her story. It made me so happy to see her confidence and self-sufficiency. I think she is the most badass and positively inspiring person on the planet right now. I knew I had to ask her to be in the video as she embodies what the song is about on multiple levels.”
Director Aidan Zamiri reveals: “The moment Kate played me ‘Bad Lieutenant’ I couldn’t wait to make a video for it – I was instantly hooked. The track feels like a bit of a triumphant start of a new chapter for … It’s also a bit of a reflection on her life and career and feels like a kind of empowering anthem to love who you are and remember where you’re from. The video lenses Tilly as the fun-loving, outgoing rockstar teenager that she is and also reflects on Kate’s life and career and casts a fond eye on growing up in the UK. It’s a bit of a mad, manic collage of different places and moments and is ultimately a celebration of self-love, knowing your roots and being a badass.”