Back to My Ibiza Club Days: Behind the Scenes on TSHA & Pollena’s “Another Planet”

Most of my work these days is weddings, events and shoots that happen at relatively civilised hours. I have a child now. My days of getting dancers ready for Ibiza clubs late at night are mostly behind me.

So when Decadance Agency asked me to come and do hair and makeup for seven performers appearing in TSHA’s new music video, “Another Planet” featuring Pollena, it felt like stepping back into an old version of my Ibiza life for the day.

In the best possible way.

The track had only just been released, and the shoot was taking place at Nocturna, the club underneath Los Felices. “Another Planet” is also part of TSHA’s forthcoming Mi Casa EP. Apple Music - Web Player

Back Working With Some Very Familiar Faces

There was something really nostalgic about this job because so many of the people involved were people I’d worked with years ago.

I used to work with some of the Decadance performers back when I was doing the dancers for Glitterbox at Space, and then during its first couple of years at Hï. I eventually left the island for a while and, since coming back and having a child, late-night club work just isn't really part of my life anymore.

Leah, who runs Decadance, also became one of my close friends through those years. Her work has evolved hugely since then too, so it was quite funny for both of us to suddenly find ourselves back doing the kind of job we used to work on together.

The producer was Lou Gallagher of Ibiza Producer, who I've also worked with for years on music videos, TV commercials and productions in Ibiza, London and Manchester.

It felt a little bit like getting the old gang back together.

Except this time I had seven people to get hair and makeup ready in two hours.

So there wasn't too much time for reminiscing.

Seven Performers. Two Hours. Hair, Makeup AND Body.

The brief for the Decadance performers was dark.

Really dark.

Smoky eyes, deep lips, black clothes and an almost gothic, underground-club feeling. Nocturna itself is a very dark space with red lighting, so the performers needed to look incredible when the light caught them rather than disappearing into the room.

The skin became a huge part of the look.

I wanted it really glossy. Not subtle bridal glow. Wet, oily, almost sweaty-looking skin that would reflect the nightclub lighting as the dancers moved.

And one of my favourite products for doing this isn't actually a body product at all.

It's an olive-oil hair sheen spray designed for Afro hair.

I LOVE it on skin.

It gives this incredible wet-look finish that catches light beautifully on camera. I layered that with a really glossy bronze body cream so shoulders, arms, chests and legs would flash with shine whenever the performers moved through the light.

That's one of the things I love about working on shoots. You're not necessarily asking, What is this product supposed to be used for?

You're looking at what you need the camera to see.

When Two Hours Means Everyone Gets Involved

Seven complete performer looks in two hours is… ambitious. 😂

Luckily, dancers are incredibly used to getting themselves show-ready.

While I concentrated on the elements that needed me, some of the girls were helping get ponytails in and doing bits themselves so we could keep everyone moving through the chair.

It was organised chaos.

Hair, smoky eyes, lips, body makeup, shine, another performer in the chair, someone else getting their hair started, back to body, check everybody under the lighting.

There was absolutely no leisurely sipping-coffee-while-I-perfect-an-eyebrow happening here.

But that's also something years of working on productions teaches you. Sometimes the job isn't about having unlimited time to create one perfect look. It's about understanding the creative brief, knowing what matters on camera and getting an entire group looking cohesive within the time production actually gives you.

Creating the Dark Side of “Another Planet”

I wasn't responsible for TSHA or Pollena's hair and makeup. My role was specifically creating the hair, makeup and body looks for the seven Decadance performers.

And visually, that distinction was important.

The concept had TSHA and Pollena entering this strange, dark world inhabited by the dancers. They were the lighter presence entering the space, with the music effectively bringing this other universe to life.

So our dancers needed to feel like they belonged to that world.

The deep lips and smoky eyes helped create that darkness, while all that glossy skin meant their bodies appeared and disappeared as the red club lighting moved across them.

Once I saw everyone together in the space, it all made sense.

A Music Video Inside a Live Show

There was another slightly surreal element to this shoot.

While the music video itself was being filmed, TheSushiDragon was simultaneously broadcasting behind the scenes live on Twitch.

So there was a whole second production happening around the production.

Viewers were seeing the making of the video in real time, with the stream moving around the shoot and cutting to interviews with TSHA, producers, directors and other people involved.

The Twitch broadcast was genuinely billed as a live look at the making of TSHA's “Another Planet” music video in Ibiza, so the behind-the-scenes element wasn't an afterthought. It was part of the event itself. Twitchmetrics

There were cameras filming the music video, people filming what was happening behind those cameras, performers getting ready, production moving around the club and me somewhere in the middle trying to make seven dancers look like glossy creatures from another universe.

Quite a normal Thursday, really.

Why I Still Love Production Makeup

I don't think I'd want to go back to my old club schedule now.

But I do love dipping back into this side of my work.

Bridal hair and makeup requires precision, longevity and understanding exactly how somebody wants to feel on one of the biggest days of their life.

Production work uses a completely different part of my brain.

Sometimes beautiful means polished skin and perfectly placed makeup. Sometimes it means covering seven dancers in enough oil and bronze shimmer that they look almost wet under a red nightclub light.

And sometimes the best product for the job technically belongs in someone's hair.

That's why, even after all these years working as a hair and makeup artist in Ibiza, I still love being thrown a completely different brief.

Especially when it brings me back together with people I started working with years ago.

For one afternoon at Nocturna, it felt a little bit like old Ibiza again.

Just with an earlier bedtime.