Exclusive: Avenue of the Giants “#FTW” Video Premiere

MUSIC VIDEO BELOW THE TEXT

The guys in Atlanta rock band Avenue of the Giants don’t mess around when it comes to making music videos. Their last video for their song “Burn” recently topped the IndiMusicTV video chart, and their video for “So You’d Like to Think” won “Video of the Year” at the 2014 Georgia Music Awards. And now we bring you the premiere of the video for the band’s new single “#FTW.” “It’s a little bit of a pop punk anthem,” lead vocalist Devon Lewow says. “ We normally go a little bit more American rock and roll.”

The video shows you what happens when a band like Avenue of the Giants teams up with an actor/director like Clifton Collins Jr., who has worked with Slash and also introduced the world to Zac Brown Band when he directed the music video for “Chicken Fried,” which won “Breakthrough Video of the Year” at the 2009 CMT Awards. That’s actually where the story begins.

In 2009, Avenue of the Giants lead guitarist Foz Rock was in band called Rehab, and they were nominated at the CMT Awards for “Bartender Song (Sittin’ At A Bar).” Foz and Clifton met at an after party and remained friends ever since. Fast forward about six years and Clifton Collins was finishing up a shoot in Atlanta on the upcoming feature film “Triple 9,” when Foz and Devon call him up to see if he wants to shoot their music video before he heads back to Los Angeles.

“I was on my last day of shooting, “ says Collins Jr. “but they’re my boys and I love them.” So Collins Jr. found a way to make it happen during a break in his shooting schedule on that day. “I had shot in the morning with Woody Harrelson, and then I had the day free and then I had a night shoot. I was literally in my wardrobe for the movie.”

Fortunately, throughout the production of “Triple 9,” Avenue of the Giants had some opportunities to perform for people involved in the film and found fans in Woody Harrelson, Norman Reedus and producer Anthony Katagas. “So I just asked Katagas,” Collins Jr. explains, “do you mind if we shoot something on the lot behind us?” So with approval, the band and director shot the video “30 feet behind Woody’s bus,” improvising even through 90 minutes of rain (which you can see in the video).

“It’s just one of those videos,” says Collins Jr., “that when you least expect it, the elements come together both figuratively and literally.”

Check out the video below and keep up with Avenue of the Giants on Facebook and Twitter.