Watch Quickie’s Sakura-Con-Inspired Music Video for “Pretty”

A who’s-who of anime characters appear in the new video from Seattle power pop band Quickie. That’s because the group shot the colorful video for their song “Pretty” outside of the most recent Sakura-Con convention, with over a hundred and thirty cosplayers taking part. Not as extras, but front and center. “Lead singers.” The music video features over a hundred cosplayers at the Seattle anime convention, all lip-syncing one by one to the lyrics of the band’s song “Pretty”.

“It’s all about being yourself,” says Quickie frontman Lou Trez. If there’s an overall theme to the bands videos, which have featured everything from baristas in bikinis, to a Santa Claus pub crawl, to Emerald City crusader Phoenix Jones, maybe that’s it: be who you want to be, and forget anybody who tries to put you in a box.

“I guess you can make the case for a pattern,” laughs Trez. “ But really, we just try to create videos with subjects that are interesting to us.” 

Trez admits the band doesn’t know a ton about the world of anime and manga, but they appreciate the skill, creativity and enthusiasm of the cosplayers who attend Sakura-Con. “What we do…rock music… is a form of art, and what they do is art, too. Have you seen some of these costumes? Amazing!”

You can spot lead singer Lou Trez, guitarist Joe Wolf, and new drummer Retten Steincipher in the video as well. They’re the ones wearing suits. “Hey, to us wearing a suit is cosplay.”

500, the album featuring “Pretty”, will be out on December 1st. You can stream the video via YouTube below.