Maraschino Premieres Her Free-Wheeling, Fun Loving “Hi Desire” Music Video

Welcome to the world of Maraschino. We think you’ll like it here. We are helping today to unveil the pop songstress’ brand new music video for “Hi Desire,” a dreamy-sounding song featuring Maraschino, aka Piper Durabo, wandering around abandoned sites in downtown Los Angeles, seemingly having the time of her life.

The song and the video fit in exceptionally well within the cultural context of 1980s music and style, with Durabo showing a very playful side to herself that goes very well with the flirtatious, almost mischievous tone of the clip. The quirky quality of “Hi Desire” is somewhat reminiscent of the tone of Cyndi Lauper’s famous “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” video, where both artists try to demonstrate a free, fun-loving, strong feminine spirit.

Discussing the song and its video, Piper Durabo tells us:

“The “Hi Desire” video is inspired by one of my favorite movies “Jubilee” by Derek Jarman. Without giving too much away I’ll say it involves Queen Elizabeth 1, her astrologer John Dee & an angel time-traveling to 1970’s post-apocalyptic “punk” Britain. It’s an exciting blaze of trash, glitter and mysticism. I love it so much. My character in the video “Maraschino Antoinette” is a similarly anachronistic symbol of extravagant love in a time of total romantic nihilism— apps have flattened the dating experience in many ways & a lot of us are too caught up in survival mode to get mixed up in anything too deep. She spends the video oscillating between wandering the streets of DTLA aimlessly searching for her lover and calling them into her dream zone.”

Los Angeles plays a significant thematic role for Durabo as both a songwriter and a performer. Her songs play like a diary of love, loss, seclusion, and adventurousness within a modern LA, typified by alienation and apathy. Within this context, these songs are also a way of honouring the tough times and the difficult moments that life can present you with. But it’s about taking that pain and grief and turning it into something positive that keeps you moving forward rather than spinning your wheels in reverse. Durabo wrote this latest bunch of songs with a heavy heart as a result of the loss of her good friend Sam Mehran, whom she planned to record her new material with. She is also a cancer survivor, and add onto all that a difficult breakup, and she was feeling broken and uninspired.

All of these experiences have toughened Durabo up, leaving her feeling stronger, and also offered her a lightheartedness that allows her to step back, laugh, and take it all in stride, no matter what’s coming her way.

Artwork for the single “Hi Desire” by Maraschino