Sometimes you’re on top of the world. Other times you’re lying on the floor covered in $15 worth of off-brand groceries and condiments. For Boston’s Old Red Dog, life’s often a little bit of both, and the folk-punk performer’s video for new single “Die Young”, out today and featuring Shaina Mishkin, shows him smiling loudly as he’s getting doused in life’s bullshit.
“I went for a fun video because the song is so morose,” Old Red Dog tells Vanyaland. “It was a blast to film — we strapped my iPhone to a ceiling fan and let my friends go wild with about $15 of bottom-shelf groceries. The message is quite literal: smile through all the shit life throws at you.”
For Old Red Dog, life has seen its share of musical changes. The musician formerly did business as Editor-In-Chief, and if there’s one thing us in media certainly know about these days, it’s the dated shelf-lives of any sort of editor. “The writing process, inspiration, and sound are different enough this time that a name change felt appropriate,” he says, “but this feels like the right name to keep writing under.”
The new moniker is a catalyst to a bit of a different sound from the more electronic leaning Editor-In-Chief. “Die Young” is the first single from a new album and zine due October 7; the album is titled from your body flowers shall grow. The tone of the album is a bit dark, which, again, is lightened a bit by the video in which he ends up covered in ketchup and mustard.
“[I]t is largely about two people I lost in 2014,” Old Red Dog tells us. “My cousin Stephanie passed away in June of that year, and a boy I had just started dating in October passed away in November. It was a really rough year but I grew a lot from it and wrote a really beautiful album for the two of them. They each have their own song on it. The pain of their loss and the experience of finding value and purpose in my own life, now that I’ve outlived truly great people, is a theme across the album. There are also songs about my mother, an ex from 2015, and my cat (he went missing for 3 days last year, the result of which was discovering he had diabetes).”
Watch the “Die Young” video below, and download it for the nice-price of free via the Old Red Dog Bandcamp.