Synopsis

At a chaotic children's birthday party in La Paz, Bolivia, a young girl blames the hapless clown for ruining the celebration. Determined to see justice done, she pursues him through the streets as the police join the chase. The video unfolds like a deadpan crime story, balancing colorful party imagery with eerie slow-motion action and surreal humor. Its strange central mystery gradually expands into an oddball portrait of clowns as hunted outsiders, ending with the girl's obsession reaching an unexpectedly elaborate conclusion.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Dojo Rising" was released as the first single from Cloud Control's second album, "Dream Cave," in 2013.

• The video was shot on location in La Paz, Bolivia, using local performers and real clowns rather than presenting a conventional studio-based band performance.

• The central idea came from the experience of attending a friend's nephew's birthday party. The clown's inability to control the children inspired the video's portrait of a celebration descending into chaos.

• Nayeli Miranda, who plays the determined young girl, was already known to the production team from a previous Bolivian music-video project. Her brother Franco Miranda also appears in the clip.

• The cast includes Alex Teran as the clown. He had previously played the Cement Man in another video made in Bolivia.

• Nayeli learned the song's lyrics phonetically in Spanish within a few days, allowing her to perform along with the track despite the song being in English.

• The production secured the use of a police station and a police car by providing a football trophy for the local police department's staff match.

• The video's bright colors, comic violence and uneasy atmosphere were frequently noted as a distinctive combination, turning a simple children's party into an offbeat chase film.

• The project formed part of a series of music videos made in Bolivia with local production partners and crews. The other videos in that group included work for Landshapes, Naughty Boy and Seekae.