When Iggy Pop Speaks for Marshall, You Damn Well Listen

In a short film for Marshall, punk godfather Iggy Pop makes viewers an offer they'd be remiss to refuse.

The iconic rocker riffs on rebellion, creativity and freedom, as lovingly recreated images of music scenes from past decades slide by:

Naturally, Marshall's products—amps, headphones and earbuds (notably its latest wireless offerings)—appear throughout the moody, minute-long piece, which boasts time-trippy nods to pop, reggae, punk and heavy metal.

But Iggy's palpable presence and stentorian spiel steal the show. Cast as a long-haired, leather-jacketed Greek chorus, he offers brand-poetic commentary on Marshall's celebration of the outlier spirit.

And as ever, dude won't be denied.

Listening matters? Yes sir, Mr. Pop! It brings us together? Roger that! We should tune out the boring and find our voice? Anything you say!

Sure, the man does lots of ads. (We last spotted him reminding Brits that beach vacations will still be around when the pandemic ends.) He's always a powerful presence, and here, his presence feels righteous because Iggy lived the copy lines by breaking down barriers and channeling noise in novel ways.

"Marshall has been working with Iggy since his beginnings," brand creative director A.M. Sekora tells Muse. "Go look up Iggy and the Stooges performing 'No Fun' at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit in 1969. Marshall is right behind him through this great footage."

Filming mainly pre-Covid in the U.K., Miami and Stockholm, Dog Eat Dog director Kevin Castanheira puts the brand in a cultural context that rings true. Through good days and bad, in times of triumph, angst, adulation or despair, Marshall supplies life's soundtrack? That sounds about right.
 
As for Iggy's world-weary, bad-ass attitude, well, that's no commercial put-on, either.

"There was one instance where I had to ask him politely to stand on this rig with all these crazy straps that was going to move through the crowd to recreate this image of him from one of his iconic performances at the Cincinnati Pop Festival," Castanheira recalls. "It was pretty sketchy and ridiculous looking, to be fair. He gave me some lip, which was well deserved, and it helped rile up the extras. The shot turned out pretty cool, I think, so it was all worth it."

"We think the messaging and the visuals really give a voice to people who might not always be noticed, accepted or understood," he adds. "Ideally, the film inspires the next generation of kids looking to be heard."

Moreover, "when people tune into each other, it's powerful," adds Sekora. "So, we want to spark new creativity within other like-minded creatives, open new doors, and show that together our voices can create massive change, which is especially important now more than ever."

CREDITS

Marshall Credits
@marshallheadphones
Creative Director - A.M. Sekora (@laborhouse)
Director / Photographer - Kevin Castanheira (@kevincastanheira)
Creative - Logan Wilmont
Producer - Harvey Ascott (@harvs31)
Production Company - Dog Eat Dog  (@dogeatdogproductions)
Executive Producers from Dog Eat Dog- Mark O'Sullivan & Harvey Ascott
Director of Photography - Todd Martin (@toddmartin)
Co-Director of Photography - Robin Assemeier 
Photographer - Dean Martindale (@deanmartindale)

Lead Cast and VO
Iggy Pop as himself  (@iggypopofficial)
Iggy Pop appears courtesy of Thousand Mile Inc
Management - Henry McGroggan @ CEO
Iggy Pop Personal Assistant - Spencer Weisberg

Models
Sarah Holt
Prim Patnasiri
Kit Wharton
King Owusu
Dania Macias
Jewaria Gazaele Luu
Malik Lewis
Tom Serner
Elsa Sjokvist
Alfred Lindstrom
Fabien Florence

Featured Artists
Asta Stensson
Beri Gerwise
Emmanuel Emenike
Hanan M
Louise Linderoth
Marika Sjoblom
Vera Carlbom
Anders Ldoff
Emma Sjosten
Venus Rami
Asheq Talukder
Kevin N Yeko
Julia Dang

Skinheads
Adam Thompson
Miriam
Elliott Hughes
Lucy Gill

Band
Thomas Walmsey
Tom Harrison
Chris Wood
Joe Graham
Callum Rogers

Punks
Sterling Kelly
Ben Dutton

Police Officers
Stuart Everett
Clint Jolley

Reggae
Jesse Richardson
Natty Campbell

Mods
Mark Atkinson
Philip Carson
Christoher Roe
Harry Collins
Wayne Rogerson
Dave Gordon
Joseph Hart
Stephen Mcintosh
Mathew Roe
Paul Batho
Jack Dottie
Jamie Mcintosh

Grime
Aba Shariff
Christ Own
Who is Orion
Aminah Ali

Crew
Casting Director - Emma Garrett
Stylist - Tereza Ortiz
Production Manager - Alice Pitt Carter
Production Assistant  - Gaby Codardo

Stockholm, Sweden
Production Company - Bell & Light (@bellandlight)
Producer - Rob Andersohn & KP Pearson
Line Producer - Peter Ekman
Production Assistant - Anni Olivemark
Director Of Photography - Robin Assemeier
Stylist - Sofie Krunegard
Production Designer - Andreas Blom
Make Up Artist - Sara Denman

London, U.K.
Location Manager- Danny Bedford
Gaffer - ONX
Grip - Dan Essex
1st AD - Tristan Hefele
Steadicam Op - Richard Lewis
Production Designer - Ben Lack & Sam Waters
Hair & Make Up - Gabby Floyd

Manchester / Liverpool, U.K.
Production Manager - Anna Jones
Production Designer - Stuart Hudson
Location Manager - Gary Looker
1st AD - JP Lebon
2nd AD - Shelley Lankovits
Steadicam - Will Lyte
Gaffer - Phil Brookes
Grip - Dave Leigh
Stylist - Steven Spencer

Miami, USA
Line Producer - Natasha Chapman
1st AD - Shawn Thomas
Gaffer - Edgar Cabral
Art Director - Damian Fyffe
Make Up & Hair - Mariana Hernandez 
Celebrity Stylist - Ise White

Post Production

Offline Edit
Edit Company - Ten Three (@tenthree_editing)
Editor - Stephen Dunne
Assistant Editor - Blaine Pearson

Grading Company- Framestore (@framstore)
Colourist - Simon Bourne
Colour Producer - Chris Anthony
Colour Assist - Adam Stannard

Post Company - UNIT (@unit_studios)
Alec Eves - Flame/VFX artist
Chris Southwell - Film Audio
Darryl Bolton - EP
Jake Saunders - Post producer

Music
Original music by DOLCE (@dolceldn)

Cinelab - (@cinelablondon)
Film Processing and Scanning - Cinelab London
Dailies Colourist - Paul Dean
Film Recording / Film Out - Adrian Bull 
Film Lab Commercials Producer - Aarti Mahtani