Philadelphia-based Instrumental/Progressive Post-Metal duo Sarattma – drummer Sara Neidorf (Mellowdeath, ex-Brian Jonestown Massacre, Aptera) and guitarist Matt Hollenberg (Cleric, John Frum, John Zorn, Titan To Tachyons) – presents a kaleidoscopic video for “Socotra,” a sprawling, nearly nine-minute track found on the band’s debut LP “Escape Velocity,” out now on Nefarious Industries. Watch the video through the YouTube player below:
Sarattma’s first video from “Escape Velocity,” created for “Socotra,” features performance footage of Sara Neidorf shot by Marco Bianciardi in Berlin and of Matt Hollenberg shot by Naeemah Maddox in New York City, merged with outdoor footage filmed by David Brenner/Gridfailure who directed and edited the entire video.
Neidorf reveals: “‘Socotra’ was the one song on the album that came about completely spontaneously in the recording studio. Not a single lick of it was written beforehand. The rhythm was my impulse, over which Matt laid continually expanding melodic motifs during an extended jam. We named the song after the island which has been referred to as the most alien place on earth, with its dragon’s blood trees and baobabs-the trees we featured on our album art. In many ways the song heralds that there are always alien surprises nearer than we think, more to unearth, tensions to dig something harmonious out of.”
Hollenberg adds: “‘Socotra’ was the most spontaneously performed song on the album and is one of my favorites. The fact that there was no agenda stylistically from the conception of the song really opened the music up, once the rhythm took hold, the piece sort of had its own life with regards to the phrase variations which was a wild ride. Moments like this with music, it’s hard to tell if the music is playing you or vice versa. The tonal landscape that resulted from this improvisation reminded me of Malian music, which informed some of the dub elements that would emerge in the bass overdub session that happened much later. We did very few overdubs other than the bass to keep the integrity of the interaction of the performance.“
Purchase the album here: https://www.nefariousindustries.com/collections/sarattma-escape-velocity
