“Let’s Go Below” is the brilliantly inventive, outrageously dramatic new video from Brooklyn-based Bandits on the Run. Featuring the trio’s trademark combination of accordion, cello and guitar, delivered alongside their precision three-part harmonies, “Let’s Go Below” is a typically adventurous song, full of compelling flair and melody. The band, comprised of Adrian Blake Enscoe, Sydney Shepherd and Regina Strayhorn, began working together after a chance encounter while busking in New York’s busy subways and that meeting was part of the inspiration for this single. They say the song, “…started as an ode to the grittiness and weirdness of our city’s public transportation, but evolved, as songs often do, into an anthem celebrating all things subterranean, subconscious, and left of the ordinary.”
The video, directed and edited by Mara Rothman alongside the band, follows in the same vein – searching for something less ordinary. Influenced by the death of David Lynch and exploring his work, the trio wanted to create something, “…just a little… off. A little strange.” Rothman adds, “It was an awesome opportunity to do some world building and throw the Bandits into a brand new universe – which is where they thrive. I hope we got to show that surrendering to the unknown can feel pretty good.” It was Enscoe’s birthday on the day of the video shoot, so they, “…just threw a party, urged people to dress a little bit strange, and invited everyone to learn the choreography created by our friend Lane Slattery (and taught to us by her husband, Luke — they’re a duo we’ve worked with many times before). We knew we wanted to shoot in a small black box, and we found the Royal Family Theatre, whose management was super open to us using the set of the current production inhabiting the space — ‘Anne of Green Gables’. It was a minimalist set that basically featured a bunch of stairs — perfect for the theme of going beneath the surface.”
The trio’s output is endlessly creative and varied. Currently, they’re working on a stage musical adaptation of the novel “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”, while also hosting an ongoing residency at New York’s Bowery Electric. On the second Monday of each month through May, they’ll be joined by special guests for a themed evening. Look out for more from this superb band.
