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Big Takeover is excited to host the premiere of “Stomp the Devil”, the debut single by The Mortal Prophets, an NYC genre-fluid musical project helmed by artist John Beckmann, from their upcoming debut EP of the same name due to drop July 8.
With The Mortal Prophets, John Beckmann and his evolving band of genre bending roustabouts dig deep into America’s primal scream. Beckmann channels pre-war blues legends such as Lead Belly, Blind Willie Johnson, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, via the experimental ethos of German Electronica, groups such as Neu!, Cluster, Harmonia, Brian Eno, David Bowie and Suicide. The project’s forthcoming debut EP, crafted last year, was produced by David Sisko, and features collaborations with legendary guitarist Gary Lucas (Captain Beefheart, Gods, and more).
Their new track also comes alongside a black-and-white music video, filmed at Untermyer Park and Gardens. “The Mortal Prophets video [for ‘Stomp the Devil’] is a detour into the realm of a certain form of post-modern gothic. It is almost a sci-fi expansive space with shadows of the past blurring into a post-apocalyptic future,” noted filmmaker Michele Civetta.
Beckmann continued, “Music functions as a form of exorcism; ghosts seem to slip in from the past to commune with us in the present, so for me, the song and video for ‘Stomp The Devil’ represent everyone’s inner demons that we each have to struggle with in our own personal ways. Yet there is an irony in that struggle, which is also mirrored in the song.”
