Exclusive: The Making Of Lana Del Rey’s ‘West Coast’ Video

Singer reveals who's who and what's what...

In an interview with Clash for this month’s special American Dream-themed issue, Lana Del Rey explains the inspiration and thought behind her stimulating, beguiling video for lead single ‘West Coast’.

“It was just us down on the beach in Marina Del Rey, on Dockweiler Beach (in California). I love getting in the water. I'll take any chance to get in. I'm a little fish. I don't know if you know who Mark Mahoney is? He's done my tattoos. He does this famous grey ink. He's one of my biggest personal inspirations. He did all of Tupac and Biggie's tattoos. He started in Brooklyn, but moved to LA. He's easygoing and really cool. In the chorus, he plays this role as my confidante, lover, pimp, whatever.

“There is a section at the beach when you think everything is straight forward, then it slips into this surreal car scene where we're just driving down Venice Beach. Like the record, it's atmospheric, and you catch a directional vibe, but it's not that pointed, and it’s hard to tell what is going on. Then, there is this end scene of me in a red dress engulfed in flames. I love the archetype of a girl in a red dress. There is something about the lure of the lady in red. At the end of the video, I wanted everything that had been black and white to slip into this HD colour dream scene. It's more mood driven, but I like it.”

The full cover story interview appears in issue 96 of Clash magazine, which you can buy online here.

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Cover photo: Neil Krug
Interview: Joe Zadeh

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