Inked is proud to present the world premiere video of Lansdowne’s “FILTHY.” The song is quite heavy—both in sound and in subject matter—as the band tackles addiction in the lyrics.
“We’re all affected by addiction, either as the addict or somebody that loves an addict and wants to see them get help,” says singer Jon Ricci. “Over the last year, people around the world became more isolated than ever, doctors appointments were delayed or canceled, and the human connection that we thrive on as a species was largely replaced by solitude. Chances are, if you had an addiction to anything—drugs, alcohol, food, sex, pain, video games, etc—this past year sent you much further into the thing or things that you already had trouble coping with.”
The band hopes that the song can open up a conversation about addiction while inspiring hope in those who are affected by it.
“Addiction is ravaging our families and friendships and we have to remind ourselves that it’s not a choice,” says lead guitarist Shaun Lichtenstein. “Hope and help, lending a voice to the voiceless, that’s the goal.”
“FILTHY” was produced, mixed, and mastered with our team at Red 13 Studios in Framingham, MA, with our guitarist Shaun Lichtenstein at the helm. So, without further ado, here’s the video for “FILTHY.” Once you give it a listen, check out our interview about the song down below.
Can you tell us about the concept behind the “Filthy” video?
It was important for us to create a visual that could personify mental illness, addiction and the overall inner struggle of everyone at one point In their lives and we knew that Kyle Monroe over at Mungo Creative Group could help us accomplish that.
Is this just a single or part of an upcoming album?
“We’ve partnered with the team over at Repost / Soundcloud because of their incredible energy for the vision we’re bringing,” Lichtenstein says. “Our joint venture with them will have us releasing five singles, each one with its own story and motivation behind it, over the next 12-18 months.”
Filthy is just the beginning of what’s coming next for Lansdowne, like strapping into a rollercoaster and working your way up the track until finally it all comes crashing down.
This is a love letter to the things that we’re addicted to, and we’re all addicted to something different. Whether it’s drugs, booze, social media, gaming, sex, or pain, each of us has something in our lives that we struggle with. This song sets the stage and announces loud and clear, “We’re all broken. We’re all fucked up. No one is exempt.”
The next part of the ride will be, “Medicine,” an anthemic fuck you to all of the keyboard soldiers of the cancel culture movement. There are some bad people out there that have done awful things, and those people deserve to be punished, but this practice of twisting words, scouring social media for ten year old tweets, taking things out of context and choosing to vilify instead of asking to clarify…we’re better than that.
So, if we’re all filthy, then maybe we could use a little medicine.
What should fans expect from the music you’ve been writing lately?
We’re hoping that these new songs help to open or expand conversations around the social and mental health challenges that we’ve been dealing with as a culture, and have become even worse in the advent of COVID.
“We’re tackling cancel culture, addiction, and depression, and we’re doing it in a way that invites people to the table to talk about their experiences instead of laying blame and judgment,” says drummer Glenn Mungo. “The current climate is disgusting, and while there are bright spots here and there, the media, especially social media, has made these problems worse.”
People feel alone, like they lack support, and these aren’t easy topics to talk about. We’re doing what we can with the voice that we have to be part of the solution instead of adding to the bullshit. We don’t need any more negativity.
Are you going to be hitting the road any time soon?
We have two shows coming up next week which will be our first shows back in over a year. August 27th with Tommy Vext of Bad Wolves at Sharkeys Event Center in Liverpool, NY and August 29th at one of our favorite venues in the country, Shiley Acres in Inwood, West Virginia. We are excited to see our boys in Black Stone Cherry and Pop Evil and the addition of Tommy Vext, Zero 9:36, Like Machines and Silvertung make this a really killer show. “Playing live has been the constant motivation for why we make music as a band,” says bassist Mike LaRoche. “This past year has been incredibly challenging because we woke up one day and all of a sudden a critical part of our individual and collective identity was gone.”
How much have you missed playing live over the last year and a half?
“COVID restrictions made it difficult for all of us to see our friends and family, hug our loved ones, laugh together, feel like we were part of things bigger than ourselves,” says guitarist Josh Waterman. “Not being able to see our fans, who really have been like extended family for each of us, made it that much worse. Without being in the same place as the amazing people that have given us this gift, there’s been a part of us that’s been missing.
We never took it for granted, but now more than ever we feel lucky to be part of live music.”