The Gods Themselves
Entering the anachronistic tech hemisphere with Seattle’s The Gods Themselves; photographed by Michael Doucett.
The trio of Astra Elane, Collin O’Meara & Dustin Patterson have been mainstays of the Seattle & beyond sectors, where together they have collaborated as a titanic force as The Gods Themselves, prepping their self-released album Be My Animal for release January 20. These three gallant artists of prestige & immediate purpose unleash all your new romantic conceits of raw open heart honesty with that no-wave techno drum beat that turned the entire world onto what could be achieved in the audio art schools via digital dalliances.
With the world premiere of The Gods Themselves’ video for their single “Tech Boys”, they point their aggression at the suburban invasion of start-up/carrot chasing dorks that poise their capitalist threats of mass gentrification & cultural destruction at the local institutions that TGT love, frequent & adore. The Gods Themselves like a celestial ordained mandate go all out with big time direction from Rick Walters, cinematographer Brian Stevenson, crane operator Jeremy Kaynor, with first assistant camera work by Tess Stuart, production assistant Brian Rees, gaffer Richard A. Williams, with hair & make-up from Tonya Carlson.
With an enthusiastic tech boy cast of Philip Catalan, Cory Foster, Spoono Ghiefardi, Chris Kent, Chris Lehrer & Narwhal Wilde busting moves choreographed by Kat Murphyin in conjunction with effects & editing from Chris Cool. The result is something more than some James Murphy slice of dance floor convo topics but rather a run through the “we got an app for that” mentality that has ruined the volition of the human spirit as a whole. Comedy ensues from the tech-schmuck shuffle to the Tindr knock-off employed in the video called Banger that provides another “Silicon Valley”-esque satire on the state of the American work force that is only concerned with programming over the pragmatism of human function & daily existence.
The Gods Themselves provided us with the following exclusive break down of the video & their forthcoming album:
TECH BOYS VIDEO
The song spotlights the conformist mindset of the Seattle tech boy. For the video we decided to showcase that herd mentality with a full on dance routine, complete with synchronized swimming style uniformity.
Initially we envisioned 2 or 3 tech boys dancing around while the band performed in this big empty white space—freestyle though, nothing choreographed. To find these tech boys we posted a pic of the “Silicon
Valley” dudes with an ad that read:CASTING CALL: The Gods Themselves are looking for three dudes to star in a video shoot. Look is 25-35, hip kid, metro, tech bro, Seattle stud. Must be reliable, capable of following instructions and willing to dance.
After posting and sharing the idea with our friends and fans we were totally amped at how many people wanted to be involved, and quickly decided to get a kick ass choreographer on board and make the guys the star of the video. Our boys worked really hard on their moves and brought their best and douchiest tech bro impressions to the table. Some of the dudes are actual Tech Boys! (you can throw a rock in Seattle)
We really had a blast making the TB vid. Everyone was so into it. In addition to our remarkable actors we had a kick ass crew on this project. Dustin put together story boards and our long-time pal Rick “Pookie” Walters brought them to life with his direction and a fab bunch of folks he brought on in pre and post-production.
BE MY ANIMAL
Seattle’s best The Gods Themselves; photographed by Michael Doucett.
This album is about love, longing, loneliness, buds, boys and bravado. Dustin and Astra share lyrical duties, often times contributing to the other’s ideas. All the songs were forged into shape in the practice space, however some were more put together than others when first brought in. We have a telepathic musical connection and an ultimate appreciation for the creation process of a song. Each of us has their own unique perspective and ideas (sometimes the song calls for less, sometimes more); and we enjoy exploring them all. Crafting Be My Animal was a bonding collaborative process that we relished in.
Produced entirely by the band, we had heavy involvement in each stage of making of the album. In addition to the songwriting all tracking, overdubs, mixing, and mastering were supervised by the band. From conception there is a specific and defined vision for each tune, sometimes changing along the way, but always pursued and respected.
album art:
Astra does most of the design work for the band and one day, blew her mind. The work is called “Adicktion” and was created by French artist Maxime Clemenceau. Astra contacted Maxime gushing about his work and now this piece is their album cover. It’s a beautiful thing when artists can mutually serve each other.
