For Holy Fuck's new video for single "Tom Tom," Brian Borcherdt and director Michael Leblanc flew to Romania. They wanted to use authentic people in an unfamiliar setting. What came of the
bare bones production is an intense clip that visually reflects the dark electronica the band has become known for.
Mostly shot when the sky was just about to fade as to use as much natural light as possible, the video follows a teenage boy through a distorted Romanian town. The video comes as a precursor to Holy Fuck's new album Congrats, which will be out on May 27th on Innovative Leisure. It's the first new music from the band in 6 years and is absolutely worth the wait. Recorded over three days in a studio, as opposed to the Ontario barn in which past releases were made, Congrats finds Holy Fuck rediscovering their sound in a way they weren’t able to six years ago.
The band previously released the track "Xed Eyes" and "Tom Tom" with both tracks showcasing their brooding and chest-bumping sound. Director Michael Leblanc shared a long statement with Pitchfork about the video
"Brian and I decided to shoot the video in Romania so we could cast authentic people in a unfamiliar setting. I wanted to shoot most of the scenes when the sky was just about to fade and use as much natural light as possible. This helped with the surreal style I was trying to create. Though...we did end up using a few lights and a homemade dolly we built in Romania with wheels I ordered from the US.I was lucky to have my Romanian friend Miruna Soiu who helped produce/translate and her husband Ian Mcgettigan who's one of my best friends who helped with all things including being the dolly grip and doing most of the driving. Myself, the two of them and my girlfriend Erika Lobko who's a local set designer from Toronto flew over. There we found our two main characters and now friends Marius Staicu senior and his son Marius. They were perfect in every way. Everything I had hoped for and way more really. Casting was really fun as we just walked around Zarnesti and asked people if they'd like to be in a music video. We shot most of the video in Sirnia a small village near Brasov where both Ian and Miruna had once stayed. It was through their contacts that we were able to do this video. Without them and Erika who ended up operating on many shots the video would have never been made. Miruna's wonderful Aunt Iona cooked us traditional Romanian meals every day and woke up really early every morning and lit the heaters to make sure we were warm and cozy."
Holy Fuck will be hitting the road in June for a US tour. Known for their explosive and jaw dropping live show, these dates are not to be missed. Watch the new video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6OywaZjyOI&feature=youtu.be