It's exciting times for Nashville psych-rock outfit All Them Witches. The band are currently out on the road with arena-packing pop-metal occultists Ghost and recently dropped a buzzing, lysergic new song, "1X1," the group's first music since 2018's ATW LP. "1X1" is a Free/Pay What You Wish single available for download via bandcamp, and today (November 20th), it's gotten a moody, cinematic music video directed by All Them Witches drummer and artistic director Robby Staebler and starring Emmy-winning actress Drea de Matteo (The Sopranos, Desperate Housewives, Sons of Anarchy). The band has teamed with Revolver to premiere the captivating short film right here right now — watch it above.
"When I was in my early Twenties, a close friend gave me a book by Carlos Castaneda titled A Yaqui Way of Knowledge," Staebler says of the video. "I spent hours reading and contemplating the words and stories, slowly seeing how it fit into my own life. I remember one thing very clearly from that book in which the teacher Don Juan says something like 'All paths lead to nowhere, choose the ones with heart.'
"This idea never escaped me and throughout the years I've spent chasing the feelings in my heart it has never disappointed me. I've been hurt and hurt myself and others and learned many lessons with many more to come but this truth of the path and of the heart remains a solid idea I hold close. We all eventually end up in the same place — the end of the road, where life in this realm ends. A place our conscious minds in this dimension have no clear idea or memory of what it's like on the other side. It's the journey of the heart that teaches us what we need to know in this life. It gives us our bearings on what is good and true and wholesome. It shows us what to contemplate and how to process the eternal from the experiences of the now if we only pay honest attention.
"'1X1,' for me, is about this idea. Following the path of love and the recognition of the inevitable pain along the way, as well as the confusion we find ourselves facing when we think we have found the answer — only to realize something greater and more powerful in our moments of defeat and self doubt.
"For me, this film is a love story with the higher self, as well as a battle of direction and possibility. In some moments we find ourselves quietly looking inwards only to be disrupted by this constant following of force from the ego and the bombardment of thought both conscious and subconscious. It can be overwhelming and you may believe it to be impossible to overcome, but once we see this pattern of activity and become aware of the places we dwell, mentally, and the paths it takes us down things start growing. Then the idea of death becomes new life springing from the ground. No more need for the fear of pain we find on our paths. That pain no longer closes down self awareness. That knowledge can now be used as an ally and not an enemy. Feeling connects our separateness through compassion, understanding and desire. Feeling is important in this dimension even as it can be distracting and misused it needs a clear vessel to promote life in the proper ways — your consciousness is this vessel. Your heart is the path.
"The first scenes I shot were with Drea and a couple 16mm cameras in British Columbia. We really had no plan on what we were going to shoot. We passed the cameras and ideas back and forth and just let it unfold. I knew the rest of the project would be formed around those first images. She is the rebirth, the revealing of spirit coming from the ground giving life to death, making everything OK again, allowing feeling in a safe place.
"Just like anything we do together as a band or anything I do artistically on my own, there is no end vision, just the process that reveals the message itself when it's complete. I like the idea of music videos being movies. Analog cinematography mimicking long-form ideas in short spurts. I love the analog format and the way it makes you see through the invisible. It puts you in the moment. I don't use live video tapes or anything fancy. Everything is straight through the lens onto film, guerrilla-style, just like the path I choose — one of observation, reflection and adaptation without overthinking or over compensating.
"We walk our paths the way we do because of what we believe. It's important to choose love as your belief. It's important to allow yourself the space to grow out of discomfort and to diligently watch your heart and mind."
All Then Witches 2019 tour dates:
November 20th - Dublin, IE 3 Arena * with Ghost
November 22nd - London, UK Wembley SSE Arena * with Ghost
November 23rd - Leeds, UK First Direct Arena * with Ghost
November 25th - Copenhagen, DK Forum Black Box * with Ghost
November 28th - Helsinki, FI Hartwell Arena * with Ghost
November 30th - Katowice, PL Spodek * with Ghost
December 1st - Prague, CZ Universum * with Ghost
December 3rd - Budapest, HU BSA * with Ghost
December 4th - Zagreb, CRO Mochvara
December 5th - Mantova, IT PalaBam * with Ghost
December 6th - Zurich, CH Halle 622 * with Ghost
December 8th - Barcelona, ES St. Jordi * with Ghost
December 10th - Lisbon, PT Sala Tejo * with Ghost
December 11th - Madrid, ES Wizink Centre * with Ghost
December 13th - Strasbourg, FR Zenith * with Ghost
December 14th - Schweinfurt, DE Stattbahnhof
December 15th - Munich, DE Zenith * with Ghost
December 17th - Luxembourg, LU Rockhal * with Ghost
December 18th - Nantes, FR Zenith * with Ghost
December 19th - Toulouse, FR Zenith * with Ghost
December 27th - Nashville, TN Exit/In
December 28th - Nashville, TN Exit/In
December 29th - Nashville, TN Exit/In
All Then Witches 2020 tour dates:
April 17th - Baltimore, MD Ottobar
April 18th - Hamden, CT Space Ballroom
April 19th - Pawtucket, RI The Met
April 21st - Portsmouth, NH 3S Artspace
April 22nd - Holyoke, MA Gateway City Arts
April 23rd - Asbury Park, NJ Asbury Lanes
April 24th - Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls Theatre
April 25th - Ann Arbor, MI Blind Pig
April 26th - Cincinnati, OH Woodward Theatre
April 28th - Columbus, OH Skully's
April 29th - Lexington, KY The Burl
May 1st - Atlanta, GA: *Shaky Knees Music Festival
May 2nd - Atlanta, GA: *Shaky Knees Music Festival
May 3rd Atlanta, GA: *Shaky Knees Music Festival
