We were excited to shoot School of Seven Bells – to see how their dreamy, hypnotic, electronic rhythms would sound unplugged.

Only problem was, when we showed up for the shoot they’d accidentally returned their rented acoustic guitars. Their management took up the challenge of trying to find replacements but at 5pm on a Saturday night, we weren’t holding out much hope.

School of Seven Bells: Dust Devil.

Meanwhile, we headed to Sydney’s Central Station – earlier in the week we’d gotten permission to film there. Unfortunately, the station manager who’d given us the go-ahead to film had forgotten to tell the duty manager. Things didn’t seem to be going our way.

But making Shoot the Player films has taught us that persistence and faith usually pay off. With a little cajoling we reassured the duty manager that we had a tiny crew and even less equipment, we wouldn’t take long and we wouldn’t go near the edge of the platform – finally we were allowed to shoot. And when we got back to the club, the band’s enterprising manager had found guitars.

So we all gathered on one of Central’s quieter platforms, waited for a noisy train to leave, and filmed this live version of Dust Devil – which the band told us they’ve never done acoustic before. It was a perfect combination of beautifully melancholy song and location – watch for the guy in the background who throws his jacket on the ground after just missing his train.

– Jonathan