Right after signing to Ragged Head Records, The Royal Volts released “Shake,” the first single on the fledgling label all about making a bad deal with the devil. So far it seems to be paying off though. Within a month of the announcement the single already has a video. That devil works quick.
“As soon as we heard the single the thing that immediately came to my mind was – this thing HAS to have lots of red in it. And its gotta be quick… AND the devil himself has to be in there. A lot,” say Benjamin Stewart, the filmmaker behind the new video for “Shake.”
“We thought about dressing one of the guys up in a devil costume…. While doing a Ouija board drunk. Another idea was burning random objects in a seance. There’s so many possibilities with a rock song about the devil. It was hard committing to just one.”
But The Royal Volts are obviously a band willing to compromise and, after a handful of spitballed suggestions, they turned to the arcane for answers.
“The idea that got us real excited was doing a callback to the silent movie era. The band and I love old school horror,” says Stewart, “So we downloaded a copy of one of craziest devil films out there, HAXAN: Witchcraft Through the Ages. Modern day special effects couldn’t beat what that film crew pulled off in 1922. The film is nuts. The images matched up so well to the lyrics, we just had to use it. We screened the film and other effects on two projectors we rented, and the boys played in front of a foggy screen. It was an absolute blast.
“The best part of shooting these videos is everybody gets to participate and make something special. Stepping into new roles and working together with your pals, there’s nothing more rewarding. That’s what it’s all about.”
The resulting video is violent and terrifying in ways that only stop-motion films and the horror effects of past decades ever seem to be able to produce. The 1920s don’t get enough credit for being gloriously disturbing.
The single comes as part of their The Royal Volt’s new 6-song EP, which will be released piecemeal throughout the remainder of 2019, culminating with a full unveiling in a January 2020, for a full international release.
Tour Dates:
06.07.19 – New Glasgow, NS @ The Spot
06.08.19 – Sydney, NS @ Governors
06.14.19 – Fredericton, NB @ The Capital
06.22.1.9 – Saint John, NB @ Peppers Pub
06.22.19 – Moncton, NB @ Tide & Boar
06.29.19 – Truro, NB @ Truro Block Party
07.05.19 – Charlottetown, PE @ Baba’s
07.19.19 – Musquodoboit Harbour @ Trunk 7 Music Festival