Vision Video wants everyone to work on doing one thing: bring down the walls. Emotionally, physically, socio-politically. This is the message intertwined in all of their music, and they aren’t afraid to use their platform to spread it to as many baby bats (nor to remind some elder bats as well). The goth-post punk band made up of Dusty “Goth Dad” Gannon on guitar and vocals, Emily Fredock on keys and backing vocals, and Ryan Houchens behind the drums, knows that the future is singing, dancing, and shoegaze shuffling along to their music, and they need to be ready for whatever comes their way. Taking musical cues from traditional goth rock bands such as The Cure, Bauhaus, and Joy Division, and more modern punk guitar and keyboards, Vision Video couple the expected beats with lyrics that delve deeply into morality, war, mental health, and dealing with trauma. The beats may seem familiar to anyone who has placed a toe into the goth & post punk music scenes, but Vision Video has taken things further by tearing down the wall between audience and musician.
The lyrics are are personal, not stereotypical, and while on stage Gannon acknowledges often his own struggles with those topics. He has experienced trauma and seen anguish (specifically as an Infantry Leader stationed in Afghanistan, who went on to be a firefighter once a civilian again), and is open about these in his song writing. While on stage, Gannon talked about how he has sought out professional help for mental struggles, that therapy and medications are a struggle you need to be an active participant in, and that you need to support each other through community and community-activism. That he has lived these things helps gives a bit more gravitas and credence to the stage banter while singing of suicidal ideation, war, and that he loves cats because they won’t take away human rights.
Vision Video project a level of authenticity and bluntness that the young baby bats in the crowd are looking for (and of which many jaded elder goths may need reminding of). Everyone in attendance goes through their own struggles, has their own ups and downs, and through music and the community can find solace that they truly aren’t alone when they crash into a proverbial wall. And, importantly, Gannon and Vision Video’s music helps remind everyone that any type of wall they encounter, be they the literal Berlin wall or metaphorical emotional ones, can be broken down into piles of rubble given the right support.
Vision Video is currently on tour across the US. Stand out tracks from the night include: Kandahar, Stay, In My Side, I Love Cats, Just Like Heaven (cover of The Cure), and Happy Birthday (it was drummer Ryan’s birthday)!
Set List:
Cruelty
Normalized
Balaclava Kiss
Stay
Just Like Heaven
Sirens Song
Kandahar
Organized Murder
I Love Cats!
Comfort in the Grave
Inked in Red
In My Side
