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Spike Jonze to Direct ‘Live Music Videos’ for Lady Gaga and Arcade Fire

Spike Jonze Lady Gaga Arcade Fire YouTube Music Awards Video

The first ever YouTube Music Awards take place on Sunday, November 3, with Jason Schwartzman hosting ahead of The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Spike Jonze acting as creative director in tandem with the Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa release. Now the latter has revealed to NME that he’ll be attempting to create “live music videos” for some of the performing artists, including Arcade Fire and Lady Gaga.

While his choice of words could amount to putting lipstick on an awards show performance, the groundbreaking music-video director insists it’s something more. “It’ll be really interesting to try and pull it off,” said Jonze. “We have a whole handful of directors. We’re mixing the music video film world in with the live broadcast world and trying to make live music videos … It’s soul-making and very by the seat of our pants.”

He said he’ll be directing Arcade Fire’s “Afterlife,” though didn’t specify in regard to Gaga. “We have this big warehouse so instead of it being in a theatre where everyone’s performing their song to an audience we’re going to have sets all around the warehouse and each artist will have a different set. There are different ideas, some have narratives, one of them doesn’t really have the artist in it.” Tyler, the Creator, perhaps?

Other performers booked for the event are Eminem (perhaps he’ll show off his new “Asshole”), M.I.A., and Earl Sweatshirt. Arcade Fire — whose Reflektor is one of SPIN’s Fall Albums You’ve Gotta Hear — collaborated with Jonze on 2011 short film Scenes From the Suburbs. The 90-minute ceremony will include six awards voted on by YouTube users. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis lead in nominations, and Tyler thinks the whole affair is totally “butt.”