Today Collapsing Scenery have shared the official video for "St Seraphim Redux" with Brooklyn Vegan. The video was directed by Fiona Godivier (Fat White Family's "When I Leave") and stars dancer Astra Marie. Fiona Godivier told Brooklyn Vegan, "The idea behind Collapsing Scenery's video clip was to portray the scene of a typical Los Angeles. We found the magnetic character Astra through Instagram and wanted to film long shots of her being possessed in a motel room. For me the character and the set are, in a way, a strong image/symbol of Hollywood's madness and its fascination around beauty and body. I wanted to film something very cinematic for collapsing scenery." "St Seraphim Redux" is featured on Collasping Scenery's new album Stress Positions (order). Collapsing Scenery have a NYC Record Release show on July 19 at Tompkins Square Park. The show will also include performances by Bush Tetras, Zah (Body of Light) and NYMPH. The show is free and is presented in conjunction with Avenues For Justice.
Collapsing Scenery is the meeting of two fertile and febrile minds, Don De Vore (Ink & Dagger, Lilys, The Icarus Line, Amazing Baby) and Reggie Debris. Together they straddle the gap between music, art, film and politics, seamlessly moving between each with the same ease at which they traverse the globe, soaking up experiences and immersing themselves in different cultures.
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Since they formed in 2013 "under a pall of paranoia and disgust" they haven't stopped moving. Recent collaborations include Jamaican dancehall legend Ninjaman, Beastie Boys producer/collaborator Money Mark, and no-wave pioneer James Chance. The band also has remixes out or on the way from Genesis P-Orridge (Psychic TV, Throbbing Gristle), Jennifer Herrema (Royal Trux), Uniform, Youth Code, Brian DeGraw (Gang Gang Dance), and more.
Collapsing Scenery's inception can be traced back several years when New York-based artist/musician Don De Vore and musician friend and LA resident Reggie Debris collaborated in programming events with D'agostino and Fiore gallery on the Lower East Side, beginning with a video installation which lead to a month of music and visual programming called 'Rebuild Babylon' which in turn evolved into a travelling residency series.
Out of this came Collapsing Scenery, the musical wing of their collaboration. Don De Vore is a mainstay of some of the US's most exciting and important contemporary bands, having played in Ink & Dagger, The Icarus Line, Amazing Baby, Giant Drag, Sick Feeling, and Lilys. He is also a curator for Brooklyn arts space Trans Pecos. Joining him on vocals is debuting vocalist and lyrical collaborator Reggie Debris, a veritable human riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The pair exist to challenge and subvert perceptions in the worlds of outsider art and political protest. And have a great time while doing it. A more recent 2016 artistic residency in New York saw Collapsing Scenery create a psychedelic immersive art installation that incorporated projections, layers of colourful plexi-glass, a reading from Genesis P-Orridge and a performances from De Vore and Debris (meanwhile in a clash of the old and new the gallery upstairs hosted a Picasso exhibition). While some bands claim to be exponents of the DIY ethic, Collapsing Scenery are entirely self-sufficient, sonic buccaneers sailing the seas with piratical intent. "Playing in a traditional rock venue in any given city is my idea of hell," says Debris. "We want to play in basements, warehouses, garages - and travelling with our own sound-system, power supply and visuals, that's exactly what we do. Not being beholden to club, promoters or the existing way of doing things is important. We're 100% self-contained." Collapsing Scenery offer a new vision for how a modern band can be. They're not even a band - they're curators of a series of planet-planning events, expressions, exhibitions, albums, installations, journeys, adventures and parties, all operating outside of the confines of the tired traditional industry. Collapsing Scenery are artistic explorers pushing into bold new futures, then. Join them.Videos