GAYC/DC recruits members of Armored Saint, L.A. Guns and King’s X for “Highway To Hell” video.
New Video Features Johnny Martin (L.A. Guns), John Bush (Armored Saint, ex-Anthrax), and dUg Pinnick (King’s X) as âSatanâ.
âThis new video is gonna âblowâ your mind (as well as other parts of your body),â laughs Johnny Martin of L.A. Guns about the new video âHighway to Hell” by those feather boa-sportinâ gay rockers GayC/DC. Starring as the geek/nerd whose fatal car accident thrusts him into the Hades-headed tour bus, Martin joins dUg Pinnick (King’s X) and John Bush (Armored Saint/ex-Anthrax) in the rock star-studded tribute to the popular AC/DC anthem which is released NOW.
âWhen GayC/DC decided to do the âHighway To Hellâ video, Brian [Welch, drummer] asked me if I would be interested in doing a cameo,â says Bush. âHe said dUg and Johnny were also doing it, so I said, âLetâs do it!â
Adds Martin about his decision to be part of the video, âIt’s quite simple, actually. I’ve known the sweet, amazingly talented, freakishly handsome GayC/DC gents for a while now, and they know that I’m always down for joining them onstage … or in a music video … or in a bear bar … or ⊠When they said that they wanted to cast me as a geek/nerd, I knew that I was born for the role.â
Directed by the multi-hyphenate Frank Meyer (director, journalist, musician in Streetwalkinâ Cheetahs and new guitarist for FEAR), the âHighway to Hellâ video finds the band lovingly paying tribute to the Aussie band with their trademark irreverent eye.
âWe wanted to do something fun, so I immediately thought of one of my favorite videos from the â80s, Van Halenâs âHot For Teacher,â for inspiration,â recalls vocalist Chris Freeman. âI also thought of one of my favorite road movies, From Dusk Till Dawn and tried to think of a storyline involving the band that would somehow combine the two. I worked with director Frank on putting together the script and final shot list and we realized that there were now extra characters we had to cast.â
April 26 – Supply & Demand, Long Beach, CA
April 27 – Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, Tarzana, CA
May 3 – Ivy Room, Berkeley, CA
May 4 – Wayfarer, Costa Mesa, CA
May 10 – Wild Buffalo, Bellingham, WA
May 11 – El Corazon, Seattle, WA
June 21 – Oriental Theatre, Denver, CO
June 22 – Vultures, Colorado Springs, CO
June 28 – Rebel Lounge, Phoenix, AZ
June 29 – Brick By Brick, San Diego, CA
August 30 – Beat Kitchen, Chicago, IL
August 31 – Magic Bag, Detroit, MI
September 5 – TV Eye, Brooklyn, NY
September 6 – Broken Goblet, Philadelphia, PA
September 7 – Deep Cuts, Boston, MA
Pulling together their friends, the band and Meyer whipped up a sequined-studded version of Hell, with dUg Pinnick playing Satan (âIt was quite an honor to be asked to be Satan in one of my favorite band’s videos. I love GayC/DC. I love everything that they do and everything they stand for,â dUg says of his starring role). âWatching dUg get made over as Satan was uh-mazing,â chuckles Freeman. âEveryone was laughing and enjoying it, and Frank did a great job of keeping the energy and fun factor up. He was definitely the right director for this; he totally understood what we wanted. It was all filmed in one long day.â
Their cover of âHighway to Hellâ comes at a pivotal time for GayC/DC. Having lost their long-time guitarist Clint Yeager who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, they were tasked with finding a new guitarist for the âMalcolm Youngâ position. âLosing Clint was a huge blow to the band and to each of us personally,â Chris says. âHe was a long-time friend before he was even in the band. It was so sudden and there was no closure. We had shows that we were scheduled to play, so we had our original rhythm guitarist, Karl Rumpf step in to help us fulfill our obligations, as well as original Gay Gayâs lead guitarist, Chris Ganser and original Pansy Division guitarist, Patrick Goodwin. After that, we took several months off to find our center again.â
Eventually, Goodwin stepped in as the permanent member. âAfter rehearsing and playing with Patrick, the rest of us realized that we may have found our replacement,â he continues. âBeing that I was in Pansy Division with Patrick for seven years (1997 â 2004) and knowing how big of an AC/DC fan he is, I knew he would nail the partsâand he did! He blew us all away, honestly. It felt very natural, and we all got along so well, so after a break, we got together and discussed having him join the band. The biggest hurdle was that he lives in Denver. But we knew we simply had to deal with it; he was going to be the one to help us move forward.â
Now with a new single and the band back on firm footing, theyâre ready to unleash the fury once again. âThe first thing we did once we felt whole again was resurrect our recording of âHighway To Hell,â the last recording with Clint on guitar,â Freeman continues. âNow seems to be the perfect time to release it. Itâs the ideal way to close out the old and bring in the new, introducing Patrick via video.â
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Concludes Martin, wrapping a satin bow on the video, âWatching dUg walk around the neighborhood between takes dressed as Satan was probably my favorite part of filming the video. The look on people’s faces was priceless.â