Barbarian have given us visuals for "Medium Spirits", "Daze of Youth", "Song of Love and Hate", and today Andrew Mills debuts the fright night video chills for, "Night On Earth". Taken from last year's City of Women EP from Manimal, the primal San Diegans just sent us word of a full-length album currently in progress with first a look at their rampaging road thriller. Mixing the schmaltzy horror camp of The Serpent and The Rainbow and Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers spliced with footage from their tour with Bat For Lashes; Barbarian mixes up their off-stage adventures in a show of midnight cinema tribute.
Images of the sky setting to dusk turn to nightfall, complete with graveyard coffin raiding and van rides along the darkened interstates. Before Andrew can sing, "So drink the kool-aid, choose your poison", Barbarian leaves behind the day to day world in their sound's tarantula crawling and strange brewed serpentine smoke billows. The full moon guides the band's path between gigs, interjecting Wayne's World-esque extreme close-ups with film clips of masked marauders and tribal dance clips, combined with the band's own shenanigans on both the dance floors of dives and sticker crusted urinal surveillance. "Night On Earth" turns into a homage to their favorite cult films and encapsulates the excitement of evenings spent on the road, and in new towns where the earth transforms into a whole other world after sundown.
Andrew Mills met up with us to talk about news of their upcoming album, mixing voodoo possession and slasher film footage with tour antics, the holiday report, and more.
How was the holidays for everyone in the Barbarian crew?
The holidays were pretty normal…Seton sat on my lap while I force fed Dan milk and cookies until he couldn't get back up the chimney.
How is everyone feeling about the new year?
Feelin' prettttyyy good. Currently mixing our first full length album that we tracked in September at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree. Should come out this summer, stoked to finally hear the final product. The songs are great and I think it's definitely going to be a defining body of work for Barbarian.
What is in the works for Barbarian, 2014?
We are busy mixing, then mastering, working on artwork. Having a lot fun putting a whole package together and building a cohesive aesthetic for the album. It's pretty different from the 7" and EP, more confident and outlandish. Paul O'Berine from Rocket From The Crypt plays saxophone on a couple tracks, Dave Catching from Eagles of Death Metal plays some guitar and our friend Monterey Salka provided vocals for a duet. It has been a blast making it, and I think that really comes through the music. Plenty of blood, sweat and tequila has gone into this album.
How was it mixing footage from The Serpent and The Rainbow and Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers with your recent Bat for Lashes tour?
I think it was a natural progression to incorporate voodoo possession and slasher footage. Who can't appreciate ultra-violence, teenage breasts, the sisters of Bruce Springsteen and Emilio Estevez and Bill Pullman? The Bat For Lashes tour was basically like summer camp, a very surreal summer camp.
What are the similarities and differences of touring versus say the other roughing of going camping? Both have that kind of displacement thing going on.
It was just like Sleepaway Camp 2, except in the morning you wake up next to a smelly naked man instead of a naked 80's babe bathed in blood. We drove from San Diego to Buffalo, NY and back. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. We played some amazing venues and got a great response…and the van did not break down once. Awesome.
Other tours in the works?
Definitely touring this summer and fall. Keep ya posted when we can divulge more info!
Barbarian's City of Women EP is available now from Manimal Vinyl.
