Most bands in punk and hardcore don’t make it around to the LP; A demo, a 7”, tour a coast and then it’s on to the next thing. And it looked like Seattle’s New Gods may fall into this same trap, having self released two seven-inches, a single on Anybody’s Flowers, and, seemingly, gone on to other things. But after a year of inactivity, they’ve released a video to promote The Burnpile, their upcoming LP being released on July 13.
The video, which is directed by drummer Ian Shelton and is shot on 16mm film, stars Dogboy, a character originally created by guitarist Che Hise-Gattone as a shirt design. “The first time I drew Dogboy was while I was on the clock at this toy story I used to work at — he was basically intended to just be a sassy dog to accompany a drawing of Felix the Cat we were using for a shirt, but shortly after (that), all of us became attached to the character and we started using him on all of our merch and fliers.”
Qyn, the bands bassist, plays Dogboy in the video. The record cover is also a photo of Qyn as Dogboy, as taken by Che. “Qyn ultimately became the actor for Dogboy, which I think was fitting because out of the group” explains Che, “I think the character of Dogboy was most inspired by him."
“Originally Ian had volunteered to light himself on fire for a group shot” continues Che. Ian laughs. “I totally forgot about that” (Due to safety reasons, this idea and the subsequent plan to set a mannequin on fire in his place never got off the ground). “I was once very dedicated to that idea but I don’t remember if everyone else wasn’t as into it, or if we just started thinking of different ideas or if I just ended up being scared. Probably was a little of all of the above."
“It was chaotic” Ian continues. “I had this whole thing written and it was going to have a small semblance of a story. But in classic New Gods fashion, everyone showed up late, we were losing light, it started to rain, and with shooting on film we just had to fuck it and wing it.”
The Burnpile will be released on July 13 on Dogboy Records.
Seattle's New Gods will be playing the following record release shows with Drug Church:
July 9th, Seattle, WA @ The Funhouse
July 10th, Portland, OR @ Blackwater
