COUSIN BETTY is the brainchild of Damien Stofka a guitarist/songwriter, who has created riffs and written songs for Molten Universe, Death Mattel, LITTER and various other projects for the last 15 years.
Drone, which is out now via Golden Robot Records, is the debut single from the upcoming EP Left. Drone is a meaty slab of distorted, psychedelic, influenced indie desert rock, and the offical video is equally impressive.
“After listening to Drone, our writer/director Ashleigh Hanley, knew he wanted the lyrics to tell one story, but the music video to tell another. Ash is a storyteller at heart and wanted weave a modern day love story and social media filters together. The concept he wanted to explore was what if we could apply these filters in real life. Could we still find real love behind the fakery?”
– Cousin Betty
Given Ash’s background in scriptwriting and short films, (Pig Boy, 2017 and Second Hand, 2014) he knew he didn’t want to shoot the band standing around playing instruments. He wanted to tell a story.
Extensive research into Instagram and snapchat filters allowed him to construct a story based on what was currently trending on these social platforms. Next was working out how to shoot this clip in order to make our characters look like they were trapped inside their social media accounts. This meant 27 wardrobe changes, 17 hairstyles and 10 makeup looks plus the 20 filters and animations to create in post production.
“An ambitious project being super organised and thinking outside the box on shoot day allowed us to create a world that we haven’t seen in a music video before.”
Stream/buy Drone HERE
ABOUT COUSIN BETTY
Damien Stofka (guitarist/songwriter), has created riffs and written songs for Molten Universe, Death Mattel, LITTER and various other projects for the last 15 years. Less interested in a standard line-up and the logistics required to be in a functioning band and also inspired by the Desert Sessions, he spent his downtime compiling albums worth of material with contributing artists and performers he liked.
From these sessions micro-bands would form to present these songs live; touring with such bands as The Psychotic Turnbuckles, Doc Neeson and The Lime Spiders – having also used their rhythm section to record with. While the recordings have featured several musicians, the core live line-up has comprised of Frontman Matt Downey (Death Mattel) and rhythm sections comprised of Pat Walker (Ohms, Methusela), Tony Bambach(Lime Spiders, Aberration), Ged & Tom Corben (Lime Spiders) and Chris Drane (Cash Savage, Cherrywood). The line ups and shows have varied for each tour to include a DJ, visuals and themed stage sets.
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 