Video Premiere: The Wild Backstory Behind KRXS' "Regrets,Reset"

Filming the music video for KRXS’ latest single “Regrets,Reset” was a nightmare.

“When I tell you everything went wrong that could have gone wrong leading up to and during the shoot, I mean it,” says Kris Radtke, the Phoenix-based punk singer and emo-rapper who performs as KRXS (pronounced K-R-X-S).

“Regrets,Reset.” is the third single from his upcoming debut album X S i T E N S T i A L, set for release in November. Featuring producer TTTAZMANION on the hook, the song is an anthemic ode to skate culture, punk shows and mental health battles.

The music video, from director Levi Elizaga, was shot in one wild weekend at Lake Havasu where Radtke grew up. It features a variety of shots from Havasu’s iconic Tinnell Memorial Skatepark and the Havasu desert. None of those shots came easily.

While shooting in the desert, one of the vehicles got stuck in the dirt and couldn’t get loose. In arid Havasu, as the team was down to one car, dehydration and heat exhaustion became a real threat. One member of the crew even passed out and had to be taken away with the other vehicle, stranding the team until creative director Paul Porras could save the day.

At the skatepark shoot, Evich, the video’s fashion designer, face planted on a bicycle. They later needed 12 stitches and a trip to the emergency room, but their original reaction was to get up and keep dancing to the song.

“That’s punk rock as fuck,” says Radtke.

The face plant and subsequent dancing didn’t get caught on camera for the video, but served anecdotally as a footnote to the chaos surrounding its production. The trip also featured a police detainment, an impounded vehicle and a shattered car window. It was a long two days.

Beyond the track’s infectious hook, Radtke wanted his video to have depth, too. Notably, before the song’s final chorus, TTTAZMANION can be seen sitting on the edge of a bridge. This scene is the only one not set in Havasu, as the shot was filmed overlooking Tempe Town Lake. Radtke said he wanted the scene to “subtly pay homage” to mental health battles.

“When I was a kid, I felt like I couldn’t fit in, and I felt like I couldn’t find a home and I didn’t know where I belonged,” he said, choking up. “Music was there for me.”

KRXS’ “Regrets,Reset” features a video with an authentic vision, but a feral and far-fetched origin story, and Radtke loves it as is.

“I wouldn't have had it any other way,” he says. “For some reason, whenever things are worse, or when some incredible, laughable, comedically bad things happen. To me, when I'm doing something for my art, I know that it's going to be great.”

Watch below.