New Orleans Darkwave Duo Balloon Boy Wake the Dead in their Video for “Rebirth”

During the early 1990s, New Orleans was a city often in the forefront of any young American goth’s mind as being the setting of Interview With A Vampire, and one the most European-like cities on the continent.

In their video for “Rebirth”, darkwave duo Balloon Boy recapture this spirit by wandering one of the city’s breathtakingly beautiful cemeteries set to the rhythm of the song’s pulsing and ominous minimal synth beat, which is overlaid by vocals evoking classic goth singers such as Siouxsie, Dinah Cancer, and Jeanette Landray of the Glove.

“Written in the early quarantine stages of 2020, the lyrics of the Balloon Boy EP were inspired by visions of positive transformation in the world as a result of the changes that were occurring during the pandemic. The album tells a story of devastation, destruction, revolution, and rebuilding. “Rebirth” is the fourth chapter of this story. It is representative of the renewal which we could manifest in increased interconnectedness – moving towards true unification. We realize we are one collective conscious.”

The video for “Rebirth”, filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana, was self-directed by Balloon Boy themselves, who chose the filming locations based upon what that felt represented components of the album.

Watch the video for “Rebirth” below:

Balloon Boy is the New Orleans-based duo of vocalist Nannen Gatchell and instrumentalist Kelby Clark. Nannen and Kelby played together in the post-punk group Smiler, and Kelby also performs under the names Divorce Ring and Material Body (both projects had tracks on DKA Tape Programme Vol. II). Inspired by the post-punk and DIY pop music movements of the ’70s and ’80s, they take a live and direct approach to recording by tracking straight to tape using an assemblage of primitive analog instruments.

Balloon Boy was born while the duo were living in Valdosta, Ga. The project was put on hiatus after the instrumentals for their self-titled debut EP were lost in early 2016. The recordings were found after four years and a relocation to New Orleans. The lyrics for the material were then rewritten and recorded during the Spring of 2020.

Balloon Boy’s debut cassette contains six songs and one dub mix and is out on October 2nd, 2020 via DKA Records.

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