Enter Shikari are a British post-hardcore band formed in 2003 from St Albans, Hertfordshire. They combine post-hardcore and various heavy metal sub-genres, such as metalcore and alternative metal, with elements of various electronic genres, such as electronica, dubstep, trance and occasionally drum and bass, creating a completely unique sound. They are currently signed too Ambush Reality which is an independent record label that only releases music by Enter Shikari. Formed in July 2006, it is co-owned and run by the members of the band and their friends. The band has decided that, in order to tour in the United States, they had to sign with a major record label in America. The lead singer Rou Reynolds has also produced some solo music under the name ‘Rout’. He usually performs in small venues or before Enter Shikiari’s shows.

The song ‘Warm Smiles do not make you welcome here’ is taken from their record titled ‘A flash flood of colour’ which was Enter Shikiari’s 3 rd studio album. This was released on 16th January 2012. The director of the music video for this track was Raul Gonzo (who has the craziest website I think I’ve ever seen). Raul has also directed two other videos for Enter Shikari which were ‘Arguing with thermometers’ and ‘Pack of Thieves’ which are also two great videos. He has also worked with artists such as ‘Bullet for a pretty boy’, ‘The Shimmies’ and ‘Veil of Maya’. He not only works on music videos though, he has directed commercials also. Such as adverts for ‘Tetris’ and ‘Sky Sports’. Photography is another strong point that Raul has, with artists such as ‘The devil wears Prada’ and ‘Pierce the veil’ he definitely has a thing for working with the heavier bands.

The camera work in Enter Shikari’s music video for their track ‘Warm smiles do not make you welcome here’ cuts between 3 main locations. A basement where they are holding the band ready for cloning, the factory where there are machines cloning the band and then outside of the warehouse where they have a stand-off between the real band and the clones. The first scene is a dark smoky location, showing where they’re being held. It can’t be nice as it is dark and uninhabited. The camera is able to show this by having the bands faces as shadows at times showing you there isn’t a lot of light. You see different members of the band being cloned throughout mainly giving you a wide shot of the clones with the machines in the back so you can see everything that is going on and understand it. They use tracking shot a lot while following the replicas showing their path to then stand with the rest. You can also notice that the doubles eyes are glowing blue showing the difference between the originals and the fakes. The third scene outside of the warehouse is close ups and long shots to show the difference between the two bands. The real Enter Shikari on the right are jumping around being active and putting on a great show. The clones opposite them are standing playing the instruments with no emotion or feeling. When filming the real band they use close ups and medium shots with the camera moving about and making it all look really entertaining. But with the band opposite the camera remains still on the shots and doesn’t bother moving, just keeping it a straight shot.

Enter Shikari are ground breaking when it comes to producing music and so when compared to other artists in that genre there is nothing you can specifically associate them too. They have aspects of Rock, Metal and Electronic/Dubstep. They are definitely living up to how rock videos are. Focusing on the band and also having them playing so the audience get an idea of how they are live. Though they haven’t got any completely live footage in this music video, they do in others such as ‘Sssnake pit’ where they move from an electronic/dubstep typecast gig to a rock concert where they switch genres in their song, a very clever idea getting out to both audiences. Because they tend not to stick to a particular genre their music videos will always follow a story to the lyrics, which not only brings in people to watch for the music but also to watch their interesting videos.

And with these humble tools

We can trigger any emotion we choose

But we'll just settle to pump out repeated relics diluted with time

You see the airwaves are clogged up

But the fickle they, lap it up

They need to be drowned in condiments

And left to Ponder Sense

Warm Smiles, They Do Not Make You Welcome Here (x2)

Snap Back To Reality

The turbulence is throwing us from side to side

But no matter how hard you try

Surrounded by cannon fodder inundated with stagnant Sounds

You see the airwaves are clogged up

But the fickle they, lap it up

They need to be drowned in condiments

And left to Ponder Sense

Warm smiles, they do not make you welcome here (x2)

Transformation in Progress

Transformation in progress, transformation complete

Lightning strikes, A Flash Flood Of Colour

Lightning strikes, I can't stand the heat

Lightning strikes, A Flash Flood Of Colour

I... I... I... I can't stand the heat

A Flash Flood Of Colour

Warm smiles, they do not make you welcome here (x6)

The lyrics and the visuals match up in this song perfectly. This song is about how everything nowadays that is being produced and played on the radio is just a copy of a copy. Nothing is different anymore and all lacks emotion. ‘We can trigger any emotion we choose, but we’ll just settle to pump out repeated relics diluted with time’ meaning that when

producing what you create can stimulate people to make them happy or sad or excited but most artists are just interested in pumping anything out as long as it is making money for them not if it is actually doing anything for anyone. Next they say ‘but the fickle they, lap it up’ meaning the ones producing it they don’t care, they lap up the attention and media coverage they get. Enter Shikari produce a different track each time, they’re one of the most diverse bands with music and nothing with them sounds like a repeat. In the video, the factory is representing the producers by showing the artists being cloned

over and over, demonstrating how they’re produce the same music over and over. When the clones play at the end against the real band you can see the difference in how the originals are enjoying themselves and entertaining but the copies stand

lifeless doing the bare minimum. This is in relation to artists that do shows where they mouth every word because the producers put so much work into their voice in the album they can’t actually sing live, or believe the dance routine is more important. Rou screams ‘A flash flood of colour’ as he destroys the clones. He is trying to give them colour and give them

life, whether anything will change is unhopeful and that is why the clones disappear.

Where the lyrics suit to one half of the video (the factory and cloning part) the music behind the lyrics suit the other. The further half of the video is them playing in a basement where they are being kept. The music is kept heavy at times so with

the band jumping about it fits with the rock genre side of things.