Premiere: The Veda Rays offer a dark, mythology-inspired vision on “The Upsidedown Tree” video
Brooklyn-based post-punk band Veda Rays released their new EP, Shadow Side, back in November. And today, Treble is premiering a new video for a track from that release, titled “The Upsidedown Tree.” The clip, directed by James Stark and co-directed by Richard Thomas, is a mystical visual presentation that incorporates elements of Greek and Norse mythology along with other weird, eerie imagery. It’s a fittingly disorienting match for the band’s catchy, albeit gloomy post-punk sound in the vein of Interpol or early material by The National.
The band released a statement about the new clip: “The video is a montage of imagery loosely related to the lyrical content of the song. Maria Joanna Bohemia stars as a representation of the Pythia (or Oracle of Delphi); Jason Gates is a post Apocalyptic Odin-type figure; former Veda Rays bassist and video co-director Richard Thomas is The Hanged Man of the tarot; singer James Stark and Maximo the snake appear as themselves. The concepts which inform the song and video are somewhat abstract but relate to the occult concept of inverting the accepted symbol sets in order to gain a clearer vision of reality. In simpler terms, it’s about trying to peer through the heavy veil that is the seemingly hopeless madness of the times we are living in.”
Watch The Veda Rays’ video for “The Upsidedown Tree” below.
The Veda Rays are releasing their next full-length, which isn’t yet titled, through Alleged Records on July 13. The band is also playing the Northside Festival on June 7 at Diviera Dive.
Jeff Terich is the founder and editor of Treble. He's been writing about music for 20 years and has been published at American Songwriter, Bandcamp Daily, Reverb, Spin, Stereogum, uDiscoverMusic, VinylMePlease and some others that he's forgetting right now. He's still not tired of it.