The Black Queen are back with another video for their song “Ice To Never“. Previously, the band released this video for the 12″ extended dance mix version of the song. Nine Inch Nails‘ art director, etc. Rob Sheridan again directed this clip for the group, who feature The Dillinger Escape Plan‘s Greg Puciato, Joshua Eustis of Telefon Tel Aviv and Steven Alexander. Puciato explained of the track:
“The bulk of this album was written and recorded living together in a desolate industrial area of downtown LA, a few blocks from skid row, so it felt right to incorporate the area into the video. Our lives at the time were also each in this sort of insular but necessary ‘dark night of the soul’ type of rebuilding period, but this song in particular coming together carried a moment of uplift with it. Musically, lyrically, overall energy. The juxtaposition felt tangibly surreal. We wanted to marry all of that together in the video.
There is positive energy in the skid row shots. It’s there in reality. In any instance where there is the hope that comes from the camaraderie of a group struggle. The end ocean scene can be a symbol of many things. The ominous unknown, or the prize to which people blindly and unwaveringly aspire to; the top. Or it’s the mistake of trying to do everything alone. Any and all of those can magnetize and then swallow and destroy you. Rob did an amazing job with the concept, as well as with adding visual period piece nods to the time that we all grew our roots in.”
Noisey debuted the clip and also got ahold of Puciato to talk about the project. He said of the inspiration for the project:
“For me, everything I do is based on need. Something needs to get out, and if there is no outlet for that thing, either emotionally or musically, the outlet creates itself out of necessity. The Dillinger Escape Plan is a very cathartic outlet for me. A vehicle for a lot of rage and pain and frustration, usually manifesting in an extremely aggressive fashion.
The last record was the zenith of that for me. Just a complete toxic heave. As it was being written, and then completed, and then in the wake of it, I could feel that I had expelled a lot. And a lot of what was expelled was covering other things, as is typically the case with things you’re carrying around. That left me with a lot of room for those other things to grow. I was very fortunate, because this is very rare, to meet people and begin working with them, who not only had very complimentary skill sets and reference points, but who were also at extremely similar need based points in their emotional and musical lives.”
The site also asked him about the status of the next record from The Dillinger Escape Plan, to which he replied:
“Musically the writing is underway. Lyrically and theme/focus-wise I’m on a bit of a break. Inhaling rather than exhaling at the moment. The last one, like I said, was pretty full on for me. I write very unconsciously autobiographically, vomiting yourself up so you can look at yourself and see what you’re dealing with, that sorta thing, and a lot of what I dealt with then is gone. I can’t imagine writing that record now when I read it or hear it. I have no interest in ever making “content” or being artistically owned by either an audience or bills, so I need a minute to see what else is in there.
Being in a band is like having a conversation with someone, but with other people watching or listening to the recording. You need to have something new and honest to say, so the conversation is stimulating and interesting and revealing. Nobody wants to have the same conversation twice, and it certainly probably wouldn’t be interesting to hear or see from the outside. Once you resolve something, you have to find something new. Or else you’re just a character repeating a script like a long running theater production. I’m not as self destructive as I was then, I know too much, I’ve been through too much since the last one, a lot of the poison is gone, but there’s still some in there. I just have to dig and scrape around a bit harder to get to it.”
An early 2016 release date is being plotted for The Black Queen‘s debut album, “Fever Daydream“. In the meantime, you can pick up a digital single for “Ice To Never” now via iTunes.
