Premiere: Hiboux Unleash Extraterrestrial Clip For 'Mausethal'

Earlier this year Wellington post-rock group Hiboux released their debut album Command The Earth To Swallow Me Up, which made it on to our list of favourite local albums of 2017 so far. Now, on the precipice of a leap over the ditch for a handful of shows in Sydney and Melbourne, the five-piece have lifted the lid on a striking extraterrestrial adventure directed by Rich Turner for album highlight 'Mäusethal'. Speaking about the track, guitarist Lester Litcbfield told UTR:

"In reality I have absolutely no memory of having ever written 'Mäusethal' (German: "Mice Valley"). The name, however, was from an episode where we had a family of mice living under my fridge at home. We caught them one by one in a humane mouse trap and released them in a valley near our house. The last one I released was a little baby, and I felt terrible about it. I like to think they formed a community there, and that when humans are gone they will live there in peace, gnawing on our charred bones. I guess its about the revenge of the downtrodden mice against us humans."

And explaining the video's genesis and evolution, director Rich Turner told said:

"Several weeks back Duncan Nairn (bass) contacted me in regards to creating a music video for Hiboux using footage from a short film of mine called Terran from 2015 that had been sitting on my hard drive incomplete and collecting dust: it was one of those projects that looked great but was missing something special. The original film itself is based on the last diary entry of a stranded space marine as he struggles to survive on an alien planet, wounded, running out of supplies, alone and afraid. After listening to Mäusethal and talking to the band it was clear that they wanted to create something that embodied the core of the album and compliment the incredible sci-fi concept art that Hiboux are now becoming synonymous for. The video was inspired by a number of sci-fi influences and cast away stories where the hero is left asking himself what he should do when faced with overwhelming odds, should he embrace death or make death work for the soul. 'Mäusethal' has a really strong sense of direction throughout the track and definitely takes the listener on a journey through different emotions and I felt that the video needed to work in unison with the track's tone. We wanted to convey the marine's drive, fears and courage using the track's different components. We were on an extremely small budget: something like $200-$300 so we really had to think cleverly about how we could make it look otherworldly, in the end we found some incredible spots in Brooklyn Park and a number of awesome places near Birchville Dam in Lower Hutt that look like something straight out of Predator. It’s amazing what incredible shooting locations we have hidden in the Wellington if you’re willing to look."


Watch the video below, and then scroll down for details on their upcoming shows at home and across the ditch...

Hiboux

Saturday 1st July, Valhalla, Wellington
Thursday 20th July, Frankie's Pizza, Sydney
Friday 21st July, The Townie, Sydney
Saturday 22nd July, The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar, Melbourne