On Friday, June 25th, funky five-piece Big Atomic drops its new EP, Body Politic, a four-track collection influenced largely by the band members’ participation in non-violent protests against racial and societal inequality. Today, ahead of the EP’s release, Live For Live Music is excited to premiere the official music video for the Big Atomic Body Politic track, “Trust”.
The video for “Trust” finds the members of Big Atomic—Shannon Vetter (vocals, guitar, saxophone), Ben Vogepohl (drums), Connor Powell (Bass), Michael Vettraino (guitar/ vocals) and Brandon Bell (saxophone)—in painters suits in an abandoned building in their home base of Louisville, KY. The video, which juxtaposes the bright, colorful spatters of paint with the desolate, left-behind nature of their surroundings, was intended to match the societal dissonance that underlies the new EP.
“We shot this music video on top of an abandoned building in west Louisville,” Vetter explains to Live For Live Music. “There are a ton of abandoned buildings around that area now, but it used to be a thriving part of the city. There are a lot of cities across America like that.”
The question at the core of the song echoes the frustrations of Millennials who continue to toil away to get by in a world not designed for them to own anything or accrue any real wealth. Amid climactic rock guitar and powerful horn blasts, Big Atomic ponders the value of trusting blindly in what is supposed to be—”They say we gotta have trust… Trust in what?”
As Vetter notes, “I’ve been involved in activism since Occupy Wall Street, and myself and the band were heavily involved in the protests in 2020. As a nation, I believe our voice was heard, but the issues still live on. So once the dust began to settle after the riots and protests ceased, we decided to continue our activism through art.”
“So much of the song ‘Trust’ is about the decline of the American Dream,” Vetter continues. “Where once there were good jobs that could feed a family on one salary, now both parents have to work. Where our parents in the ’60s and ’70s could afford to go to college, now it cripples us with lifelong debt.”
For the “Trust” video, Big Atomic aimed to get at these larger issues via visual metaphors, depicting a great battle using paint balloons and graffiti. “Animating a battle seemed like a good metaphor for the fight against capitalism, racism, crooked leaders, and flawed American systems,” Vetter explains, “and using graffiti and paint in an unauthorized location seemed symbolic of anarchy, and overturning the government.”
“I think it’s our duty as artists to work towards social justice and move the conversation forward, to take risks, to go outside of the law when the law doesn’t work the same way for everyone, and to continue to fight,” he surmises, “No matter what that looks like.”
As part of that fight, and in conjunction with the release of the Body Politic EP and “Trust” music video, Big Atomic has launched a fundraiser for local non-profit Change Today, Change Tomorrow. For more information on Change Today, Change Tomorrow‘s various charitable operations benefiting Black people and businesses in Louisville, or to donate to the fundraiser, head here.
Watch the premiere of the “Trust” music video from Big Atomic below and scroll down read along with the lyrics. For a full list of upcoming Big Atomic live shows, head to the band’s website. Body Politic arrives on streaming platforms tomorrow.
Big Atomic – “Trust” (Official Video)
[Video: Big Atomic]