Turtle Skull describe themselves as “flower doom”, and it couldn’t be a more apt description of their fuzzy, spacious rock. Last month, they released ‘Why Do You Ask?’, the second single from their forthcoming album Monoliths. As heavy as it is hooky, the 7-minute track encapsulates much of what the band are all about – with big, sludgy riffs and energetic rhythms anchoring the swirling psychedelia orbiting around it.
Today, we’re premiering the video for ‘Why Do You Ask?’ here at Music Feeds. It’s a perfect accompaniment to the track – trippy geometric visuals interspersed with footage of the band’s chaotic live performance, made in collaboration with the band’s wider creative network.
The clip brings together the talents of filmmaker Ali Vann, Port of Call Studios and Star Child, with the latter responsible for the LED geometric structure that appears in the video. From there, the performance was shot in an old helicopter hangar, with smoke machines, blacked-out windows and some particularly dynamic filming.
“We wanted a way to tap into our live shows while also experimenting with intricate set design and camera work,” explains Turtle Skull guitarist and vocalist Dean McLeod.
Filmmaker Ali Vann explains that the setup involved one stationary, locked-off camera, a hand-held camera, a heavy backlight and the geometric illuminated tower for everyone to play music in.
“I wish I could bullshit about the deeper metaphorical meaning of this clip and how it’s a visual representation of the slow decay of a man’s mind as his space ship drifts off into deep space, but its just visual eye candy for a hungry brain coupled with a killer track and some good looking men.”
According to Vann, editing the video afterwards was a fairly wild process itself. “Several times over I got so lost in cosmic geometric patterns that I almost fried my computer along with my sanity. I was that man alone in his spaceship drifting through space, but it was fucking awesome!
“I still love this track even after listening to 8000 times and couldn’t be happier with how the video worked out. A very organic piece of art that came together with nothing more than inspired collaboration.”
Monoliths is set for release Friday, 28th August via Art As Catharsis.
Watch the video for ‘Why Do You Ask?’ below.
