27-year-old Saam Farahmand has been gaining plaudits left, right and center for the past year thanks to the otherworldly, dark and sometimes erotic videos he’s directed for his close friends Klaxons. Some may also know him for the now-notorious lesbian romp video for Simian Mobile Disco's 'Hustler,' or perhaps the Homer Simpson-dream-like world he had New Young Pony Club perform in for 'Ice Cream.' But, what many people don’t know about Saam -- a director also known for his work with the Rapture and Soulwax (for whom he’s currently making a documentary) -- is that he made a fake ad for Calvin Klein back in 1987, is addicted to making pastiches of the rich and famous which may have gotten him in trouble with a certain mainstream music-video channel, and he’d love to make a film about Tom Cruise.

Curious to find out more, we made a cross-Atlantic call and caught the director working on visuals for some Klaxons festival performances this summer – just one more field he excels in. His past, present and future, in his own words:

Your sense of humor and love of the unreal is obvious throughout your work. Does this stem from your childhood?
I started playing with video when I was about 7. My friend had a video camera, which in 1987 was pretty rare, and we made fake Prince videos starring ourselves. We also made Nightmare on Elm Street remakes because he had the glove and a mask. We also made a fake ad for Calvin Klein 'Eternity’ -- we filmed his dad’s Calvin Klein bottle and chanted behind the camera. My sister had a big influence on my sense of humor. When you grow up with someone with a similar sense of humor to yours, you have to keep thinking of more and more ways of entertaining each other out of boredom.

You worked for MTV for a while right? What made you leave?
I worked for MTV, yes… I left because of unknown, strange reasons. Everyone at MTV2 was amazing though. They just had money problems.

So no bad blood with the corporate machine?
Well... the big MTV bosses got annoyed because I made these random shorts that went on between the videos, and they were sometimes offensive. We had trouble from record companies.

So after a history of producing satirical clips, bands and musicians, what did you think of fellow director Price James's [Simian Mobile Disco 'It’s the Beat' director] little take on your video for Klaxons’ 'Golden Skans'?
James is a really close friend of mine. I loved that clip so much; it’s the ultimate compliment! There’s been a pastiche of my NYPC video on the Web too! There’s also been a pastiche of Magick; I find them all really flattering.

Did your video for Simian Mobile Disco's 'Hustler' bring some unwanted attention?
I never expected it to do so well; it was a joke, for people who know what Simian Mobile Disco are about. I was in a club in the US when it came on and a group of girls started kissing each other -- it’s what they did every time they heard it.

In the Klaxons videos you've got them doing some pretty theatrical stuff, how do you get three lazy musicians to perform such feats?
There are too many methods to mention; here’s one example for you... In the video for 'It’s Not Over Yet' we all meditated together beforehand to cleanse our souls of fear.

What’s next in the dream world of saam.tv?
I’m trying to approach Tom Cruise's agents. I want to make a biopic of his life, starring him as himself. We will use makeup to make him younger and older, and reconstruct his life to the present day. And then I will write the rest - the fictitious elderly years.

~Kevin Soar

See It:
For more from Saam, check out saam.tv for a vast array of his past work (including the controversial clips).