The Motherload

Album: Once More Round the Sun (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The song's music video features plenty of shots of twerking half-naked women. It's original concept was a parody of a 1990s heavy metal video. Drummer Brann Dailor explained to Pitchfork: "All those videos from the early '90s had that same look: some kind of esoteric imagery, sort of out of focus, something creepy or weird. Marilyn Manson, Metallica, Nirvana, they all had the same kind of look to their videos."

    "We wanted to do that, and I guess I thought that maybe people would be concerned that it wasn't very imaginative if it was some kind of sh---y '90s video," he continued. "Then all of a sudden, twerking started happening, and it kind of went from there. I just wanted to make something that was bizarre—that would confuse people. I also thought to myself, what's the most bizarre thing, or what's something people would say completely does not belong in a Mastodon video? And the twerking was sort of what I came up with. I had a bunch of music video ideas but this was the one we were able to do in like a day, because we didn't have a massive budget and we couldn't pull off some of the other concepts I had."

    "We live in Atlanta and we wanted to be kind of all-inclusive and support the hometown," Dailor added. "We thought it would be a fun video to make; there wasn't any high concept, it wasn't really parody. We weren't trying to make fun of hip-hop videos. It was a fine line, because I didn't want it to come off being sexist, so I thought that maybe the females took center stage and looked powerful and had this dance battle. It really blossomed and turned into this dance video, and I was like, holy s--t, we have a dance video! That's amazing. Some amazingly talented dancers showed up, so it turned into something else."
  • The video's use of semi-clad twerking girls provoked criticism from several media outlets, but Dailor denied there being any sexism in the clip. "I know there's half-naked women that are shaking their butts," he said. "For some people it's titillating, but for me it just looked amazing. I thought the girls were awesome and talented, and I thought it was amazing to watch. I love when it turns into that kaleidoscope effect thing; it brings the video to a whole new level."

    "But it's gotten people talking obviously, you know. I figured that would happen, you know what I mean. I knew there was going to be some negativity," Dailor added. "But we do that; we're that kind of band. It hadn't been done before, and we were kind of looking for something that hadn't been done before because it's hard to come by these days."

Comments: 1

  • Wolf GulleyThis was the first metal music video I saw with twerking, I believe I could say the last as well lol
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Scott Stapp

Scott StappSongwriter Interviews

The Creed lead singer reveals the "ego and self-fulfillment" he now sees in one of the band's biggest hits.

Matt Sorum

Matt SorumSongwriter Interviews

When he joined Guns N' Roses in 1990, Matt helped them craft an orchestral sound; his mezzo fortes and pianissimos are all over "November Rain."

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Mike Love of The Beach Boys

Mike Love of The Beach BoysSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.