Single #2 has arrived, our freaky little biblical number. We’re a month away from our new album Spring Grove, and the days are moving FAST. I’m thrilled to have “Salome” out in the world, and with a music video that was (shocker) insane to make.
Watch the “Salome” music video HERE!
“Salome” is about older men in the music industry. There have been plenty of moments through our experience of being a band that lend themselves to daydreaming of picking up a knife and running through the woods with it. There’s nothing scarier than your own anger! I won’t air them out here, partially because I’m nice and partially because there’s too many to name — it gets boring, the monotony of misogyny. More fun to imagine a big, Barry Lyndon-lit dinner table scene: someone playing cards, people dancing, someone getting pinned up against the wall after losing said game of cards. Fruit and swords and velvet. And then, someone’s head being served.
This is, of course, loosely based on the biblical story of Salome, who danced for King Herod at his birthday and was told she could ask for anything she wanted. She asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. I love the way this has been memorialized in paintings and plays and movies — the flip between glee and disgust you see in her eyes as she’s presented with the head. In some versions Salome is portrayed as a young child, in others a teenager; part of what feels genuinely dark about the story (beyond the beheading… obviously…) is how young she is.
We shot the music video on our trusty camcorder. Mikko helped us shoot it, Rose played John the Baptist, and Marley kept us all on track. We drove to Philly, since somehow that was the easiest place for all of us to meet (being a band that lives in different cities means endless strange logistical projects), and shot for two days there. The first day was freezing cold, and we shot at a park with a baseball field where there were truly like. A hundred geese. (Jo says there were easily two hundred geese.) I changed in the front seat of our rented electric car, which would later turn into an absolute nightmare hell car, and made eye contact with the older woman in the car next to me as I wriggled into my tights. Glamorous. We tried to shoot quickly since everyone was freezing. Mic was getting some good spins with the basketball, and Andrea had that giant Shakespeare tome. I love the shot where Mic and Andrea get handed the “wrong” magical objects — Mic with the book, Andrea with the basketball — and they look at each other, smirk, and switch objects. As the sun went down we drove over to the more wooded area of the park. Rose did some very intimidating walking and we did our “split diopter” shot, where I’m very close to the camera and you can see him standing behind me in silhouette. Rose is a big horror movie cinephile and immediately understood the vibes we were going for.
The next day we shot at God’s Auto Body, which is a cool DIY spot that John Hoffman suggested. From Cincinnati to Philadelphia to New York, everyone loves John Hoffman. The space was perfect to shoot all the indoor stuff, which I think turned out super fun. Jo built that HEAD, which is so CREEPY and PERFECT, from paper mache and recycled plastic bottles. Please note the painted red streak in the hair to match Rose’s.
The turnaround on this video was slightly batshit - we shot it on the 22-24th and it was turned in, finished, one week later on the 3rd. And now you’re seeing it on the 9th (or whatever day you’re reading this). Jo is a wonder and edited the video in record speed, I did the color, and we got it Done.
And now “Salome” is out in the world! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. It’s been a favorite since we recorded it, even though it’s weirdly hard to play live. But we will be trying to play it live at our ~*~release shows~*~, which are coming up fast!! Get tickets for those below.
thanks for listening and more soon.
xoxo, spencer
SPRING GROVE RELEASE SHOWS (with ticket links and newly announced openers!):
4/4 Philadelphia, PA at MilkBoy
4/5 Brooklyn, NY at The Broadway
4/8 Boston, MA at The Rockwell
4/9 Portsmouth, NH at Press Room
5/11 Toronto, ON at The Baby G
5/13 Montreal, QC at Casa Del Popolo
5/14 Burlington, VT at Radio Bean
We can’t wait to play these shows <33 Getting tickets early is a weirdly helpful thing for small artists, so if you’re thinking about coming - grab a ticket!