Dali Van Gogh deliver a high-energy ode to our times in Boneyard — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
“Boneyard is a special song for us,” says Isaac Kent of the Halifax rockers. “It was created entirely during the pandemic; from sitting at home and mucking about with the first guitar riff during the shutdown, through to the finished product and video. It’s very reflective of where the band is emotionally during such a strange time.”
Bandmate John Scotto adds: “The song is heavily inspired by the world and times we live in. That, and music that came from other times of turmoil in our history. The interior of the building we shot in was dark and foreboding, and conveyed this deep sense of history and tragedy that perfectly fit the tone of the song.”
Produced by Juno-nominated songwriter Rob Laidlaw (Platinum Blonde, Honeymoon Suite), the track is also the latest chapter in The Testimony, a story being told in weekly chapters blending music and a digital novel. Featuring a lone survivor and mysterious stranger from times past, The Testimony delivers accounts of those who have come into contact with The Preacher — an enigmatic figure whose very presence alters the world around him. The novel, delivered as a first-person journal of sorts, ventures to ask who the authors are and what happened to the world they live in, all through weekly releases and singles that piece it all together.
“Sure, there have been lots of concept records over the years, but what we’ve created with The Testimony is fairly unique,” Lance Hicks explains. “We are building the story across various media; songs, the novel and art, videos, even cryptic posts on our website and social media. We’re engaging people every way that we can.”
Scotto agrees: “It’s definitely something a bit different for us. It’s challenging in some ways because we didn’t go into this saying, ‘Hey, let’s make a graphic novel, concept album,’ or anything like that, but one of the great things about working on a creative endeavour of any kind is that it sometimes takes you places you aren’t expecting to go.”
With a sound best described as “infectious, gritty, and surprising,” Dali Van Gogh have received international radio play and charting status, were named semi-finalists in the SOCAN Canadian Songwriting Competition, and have released five records — Verbal Warning (2010), Mask Identity (2012), Wild Blue City (2012), From Ashes (2017) and Under Her Spell (2019) — the latter two recorded at Kent’s newly minted HouseFire Studio One.
Watch Boneyard above, check out The Testimony HERE, hear more from Dali Van Gogh below, and connect with them via their website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
