By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Vision Video
Sunday is the night for relocated rock concerts in Center City Philadelphia.
The Vision Video show on July 10 was originally scheduled to be held at MilkBoy Philadelphia and then switched to Kung Fu Necktie.
A similar scenario has played out for the concert by the Wrecks on July 10. It was originally scheduled to be held at the Foundry at the Fillmore. Then, it was announced that it had been moved to the Theatre of the Living Arts (334 South Street, Philadelphia, http://www.lnphilly.com)
Dusty Gannon is the founder and leader of Vision Video – and a paramedic and firefighter in the Athens, Georgia area.
If someone he rescued were shown a picture of Gannon in his role as lead singer of his band Vision Video, his or her response might be – “I have no idea who that person is.”
If fans of Vision Video were shown a picture of Gannon in his firefighter gear, their response might be – “We don’t know who that dude is.”
The confusion is understandable.
Gannon the singer has a look that features eye makeup, black lipstick and torn fishnet clothing.
Gannon the emergency worker has a look that features firefighting gear, boots and a helmet.
Gannon is not a schizophrenic. He is simply a Goth musician who likes working as a lifesaver and U.S. Army Afghanistan veteran who likes writing and performing dark music.
Vision Video, which is performing on July 10 at Kung Fu Necktie (1248 North Front Street, Philadelphia, kungfunecktie.com), is an Athens-based post-punk Goth band that released its debut album, “Inked in Red,” in 2021.
“I was an Infantry officer in the Army,” said Gannon, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon as the band was driving to a gig in Boston.
“The first album was based on my experience in the Army and in Afghanistan.”
That experience includes bouts with PTSD, periods of dealing with depression and the challenges of returning to civilian life – common factors in the lives of many war veterans. Being an emergency service worker also has helped.
“I’ve been a firefighter and paramedic in this area for the last five years,” said Gannon.
Fortunately for Gannon, writing and performing music has provided an avenue to deal with all the stress – a means for catharsis.
Vision Video features bassist Dan Geller, drummer Jason Fusco, keyboardist Emily Fredock along with Gannon on guitar and vocals.
“We started in 2018 and fully formed in 2019,” said Gannon. “Our music is a fusion of British rock from the late 70s and early 80s, post-punk and Athens bands like REM and the B-52s.
“The influence of The Cure is most obvious. I admire their ability to change and still retain their identity.
“A lot of bands coming out of Athens have influenced my guitar playing. We even took our name from a now-closed video store in Athens.
“When it started, I was working at the Georgia Theater, and Jason and I started talking about music. I was posting music online and Jason came over and put drums to it. Dan heard it, liked it and approached us. Then, we met Emily through mutual friends.
“We recorded much of the first record in 2019. Then, the pandemic hit. Throughout the pandemic, I decided to spend more time with it. As a result, I added a few more songs.
“We recorded the 10-song album at SubVon Studio in Athens with producer Tom Ashton. We held back the album release until April 2021. We built a lot of social media content prior to the release.”
The album got good reviews, but we waited a little while to tour.
“We played some regional shows for a while. Then, we did an external tour in late 2021 and then another in March and April this year. We played Philly in April at the Silk City Diner.”
Vision Video has already moved on to the process of making its sophomore album, “Haunted Hours.”
“We started in earnest in October. I had the groundwork laid a year after the first album came out. The recording occurred in March 2022 – three weeks total at Tom’s studio. It was a really enjoyable experience.
“We wrote a lot of parts in the studio – wrote and edited on the fly. This one was unique because it was written collectively in a room together. This was written more systematically — 10 songs structured to everybody’s strengths. It came together really quickly.”
“Haunted Hours” is an album filled with musical and emotional intensity.
According to Gannon, “We’re insanely proud of this 10-track album recorded at SubVon Studios. It is a sort of memoir of my observations and emotions during the past several years, having experienced quite a lot of death, due to the pandemic and otherwise. It’s about grief, loss and societal breakdown. It’s about watching systemic lies kill and the callousness of humans due to mass ignorance. It’s about mental health failing as the world falls apart, but still finding hope in the cracks.”
“Haunted Hours’ will not be released until October 11, but the band has treated fans to a powerful new single, “Beautiful Day To Die.”
Video link for Vision Video — https://youtu.be/VlTvoyIAiuk.
The show at Kung Fu Necktie on July 10, which has Activity and NITE as opening acts, will start at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15.
Other upcoming shows at Kung Fu Necktie are Ovoxo on July 9, All Hell on July 11, PkewPkew Pkew on July 12 and Pink Navel on July 13.
The Wrecks
On Sunday night, the TLA (334 South Street, Philadelphia, http://www.lnphilly.com) will host “The Wrecks — Better Than Ever Tour” with girlhouse and Mothé as the opening acts.
The Wrecks are band featuring vocalist/producer Nick Anderson along with Aaron Kelley (bass), Nick “Schmizz” Schmidt (guitar) and Billy Nally (drums).
But the Wrecks are only a band when they are on tour. All other times, the Wrecks are just Anderson.
On June 10, the Wrecks released their sophomore album, “Sonder,” via Big Noise Music Group.
“I recorded ‘Sonder’ at my home in September and October 2021 and January and February 2022,” said Anderson, during a phone interview last week on his way to a gig in Albany, New York.
“I have a studio in my house and use ProTools. All the Wrecks’ music is made there. I produced and engineered the album and played most of the instruments myself. Billy Nally did some of the drum work.
“It’s a very personal record. It’s a breakup album. I realized how emotional songwriting can be when it’s visceral.”
The final product did not come without a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
According to Anderson, “Making this album was a very difficult, sleepless journey that took a lot out of me, but each day and night throughout that process, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I wrote this album because I had to. I was slowly and poorly processing a breakup, and for a while there, the breakup was winning.
“It was a lonely, emotional, angry, sleepy, and loud process. 5 a.m. would roll around and I’d be sitting in my studio next to my snoring puppy trying to perfect the same guitar take that I began attempting two hours before then. But I knew I was onto something with this new music, and every fiber of my being wanted to see it through. I haven’t felt this excited or optimistic about releasing a body of work in my entire career.”
“Sonder” follows the release of the Wrecks’ 2016 debut EP “We Are The Wrecks” (their first single “Favorite Liar” currently has 36 million+ streams on Spotify), their 2018 “Panic Vertigo” EP, their 2020 “Static” EP as well as their 2020 debut LP “Infinitely Ordinary” (58 million+ streams on Spotify).
Anderson grew up in Westville, New York and later migrated to California.
“I moved to the West Coast right out of high school when I was 18,” said Anderson. “I went to school at San Diego Community College but dropped out to concentrate on music.
“Around 2015, I finally got all the members. I showed them my songs and asked them if they wanted to be in a band. Tow of the guys – Schmizz and Billy – drove here from New Jersey.
“We put out our first single, ‘Favorite Liar,’ in early 2016 and then landed a support tour for Nothing But Thieves. The success of ‘Favorite Liar’ was a great start for us. Now, it’s exciting to see our singles do so well. The single, ‘Fvck Somebody,’ from the ‘Infinitely Ordinary’ also got a lot of streams.”
The first single from “Sonder” was “Lone Survivor” and was released in February. The Wrecks followed with “I Love This Part” in March and “Where Are You Now” in May.
Describing “I Love This Part,” Anderson said that the song means a lot to him because it kept his head above water and helped (him) cope during a very difficult time. Not only that, it inspired and set the tone for the rest of the upcoming album.
“The single ‘I Love This Part’ is doping really, really well,” said Anderson. “I have a feeling that it will surpass all the previous numbers.
“On this tour, ‘Sonder’ is our most recent record and the one we’re pushing. We’re playing a handful of songs from ‘Sonder,’ almost al of the last album and a bunch of our singles.”
Video link for the Wrecks – https://youtu.be/0_3jBwLHMkU
The show at the TLA on July 10 will start at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15.
Anther upcoming show at TLA will feature Circle Jerks on July 15.
