Shinedown drummer Barry Kerch says their video for Asking For It makes fun of the band as much as it does of the music business as a whole.
Asking For It is lifted from Shinedown’s latest album Threat To Survival and the video features four kids playing the role of each band member as they go through a typical day in the life of a rock star – with sleazy managers, over-the-top photographers and headline-chasing journalists all getting their piece of Shinedown.
Speaking to TeamRock backstage at Download following Shinedown’s set on the Lemmy Stage this afternoon, Kerch says: “We write songs about things we go through and you have to be careful what you say in this industry, because it will bite you in the ass if you’re not careful.
“And the video is tongue-in-cheek. We’re making fun of ourselves first and foremost, and we’re making fun of the labels and management and interviews and everything else.
“All those things you hear in the video are things you’ve actually heard. ‘We liked them better when they were fat and lazy drug addicts.’ Somebody actually said that to us before. Those are all true stories.”
The Asking For It promo doesn’t follow the pattern of a standard music video and Kerch feels passionately about the need to package things for the modern consumer.
He adds: “You’re not doing a short movie anymore, you don’t get the multi-million budgets from the label. You’re making a video for YouTube and the social media kids out there, but it also has to be entertaining.
“In the younger generation’s world everything is free and they want to see it right now. I don’t want to make a video where it’s us playing in a room and you have to spend 15 hours to capture us playing in a room. That’s boring – those videos have been done a million times over. So why not try to do something funny or at least different.
“Everybody knows we play our instruments, you don’t need to see me in a video playing my instrument. So let’s have a little fun.”
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The child actors in the promo responded to a casting call in Los Angeles and Kerch says they were excellent on set.
“Those kids were adorable, he says. “They couldn’t have been sweeter. And that poor kid that played me on the drums really busted his hand playing those drums. He was tearing up, but he was so tough and he almost broke his finger. I felt so bad for that little kid.”
Shinedown join Halestorm and Black Stone Cherry on the Carnival Of Madness tour in North America this summer and also have a string of their own headlining dates.
TeamRock is at Download all weekend. Visit teamrock.com to keep up with all the news, reviews and interviews from the festival as they happen.
Shinedown remaining tour dates 2016
Jun 14: Amsterdam Melkweg, Netherlands
Jun 15: Nijmegen Doornroosje, Netherlands
Jun 17: Hellfest, France
Jun 18: Zurich Rock The Ring, Switzerland
Jun 19: Graspop Metal Meeting, Belgium
Jun 21: Saint Petersburg AA2 Green Concert, Russia
Jun 22: Moscow Yotaspace, Russia
Jul 16: Oshkosh Rock USA, WI
Jul 17: Sioux City Battery Park, IA
Jul 20: Southhaven Landers Center, MS
Jul 22: Kansas City Starlight Theatre, MO
Jul 23: St Louis Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, MO
Jul 24: Fort Wayne Parkview Field, IN
Jul 26: Rogers Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion, AR
Jul 27: Tulsa BOK Center, OK
Jul 29: New Orleans UNO Lakefront Arena, LA
Jul 31: Austin Cedar Park Center, TX
Aug 02: Bossier City CenturyLink Center, LA
Aug 04: Nashville Ascend Amphitheatre, TN
Aug 07: Brooklyn The Amphitheater at Coney Island, NY
Aug 10: Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion, MD
Aug 12: Gilford Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, NH
Aug 13: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Aug 14: Erie Erie Insurance Arena, PA
Aug 16: Chicago First Merit Bank Pavilion Northerly Island, IL
Aug 18: Detroit DTE Energy Music Theater, MI
Sep 07: Sao Paulo Maximus Festival, Brazil
Sep 10: Buenos Aires Maximus Festival, Argentina
Oct 08: Saitama Shi Loud Park, Japan
Oct 18: Little Rock Verizon Center, AR
Oct 22: Wichita Intrust Bank Arena, KS
Oct 23: Denver Pepsi Center, CO
Oct 25: West Valley City Maverik Center, UT
Oct 27: Phoenix Talking Stick Arena, AZ
Oct 28: Las Vegas T Mobile Arena, NV
Oct 29: Anaheim Honda Center, CA
Oct 31: San Jose SAP Center, CA
Nov 02: Portland Moda Center, OR
Nov 03: Spokane Arena, WA
Nov 05: Tacoma Dome, WA
Nov 07: Boise Taco Bell Arena, ID
Nov 09: Billings Metra Park, MT
Nov 11: Bismarck Civic Center, ND
Nov 17: Cincinnati US Bank Arena, OH
Nov 18: Louisville KFC Yum Center, KY
