FILTER mainman Richard Patrick has unveiled the Mister Sam Shearon-created cover art for the band’s upcoming album, “Murica”. Check it out below.
Late last month, FILTER released the official music video for the “Murica” title track. Patrick is recording the LP with such players as original FILTER member Brian Liesegang and guitarists Jonny Radtke and Alex Crescioni.
Speaking to Alternative Press about the “Murica” clip, Patrick said: “The character in the video is a Trump-supporting, gun-loving, unmedicated, super-freak ‘merican unhinged and at his wits’ end. And he’s trying to take control of something that is not out of control. And he’s afraid. He’s the super-afraid white male. The Trump-supporting nutbag that I hope I can reach.
“These guys that are so far right that they think CNN, NBC, ABC, MSNBC [and] BBC are all out to get our President Trump. Like they’re all in a conspiracy to be super-left-wing, crazy liars. I’m trying to make an attempt to show them what they look like. These are the guys that can only listen to Fox News and Breitbart and that type of news outlet. They believe every fucking thing that the Rush Limbaughs, the Alex Joneses [say] and listen to only the right wing, ‘the truth, man.’ They do their ‘own research’ and believe 9/11 was an inside job, President Obama wasn’t a real citizen and the lunar landings were faked. Hillary Clinton personally went out and killed people in Benghazi and it’s her fault, she’s [a] criminal and ‘lock her up.’ It’s those people that I’m portraying in the video.
“Who is the character aiming at at the end of the video? He’s aiming at anyone from the left and at anyone from the normal middle. The regular folks who make up the country that are pretty much normal and just want to raise their kids and stay COVID-19-free and try and make a living.”
Asked if he thinks “Murica” is going to piss people off or it’s going to be a rallying point, Patrick said: “I just wanted to show this surreal, crazy side of what America looks like. I literally am doing it just so the record shows that someone was willing to fuckin’ say something about the right. Something about how crazy they are.
“A lot of my fans are from the right, and they’re, like, ‘Man, I like ‘Hey Man, Nice Shot’. Why are you fucking talking about politics?’ Because it has to be done. Someone has to say it. I’m not hearing a lot of hip-hop guys sayin’ it. Country music represents the right. I’m not hearing anyone from the left say anything. Let the public record show that I tried something during this time period that at least maybe 100,000 fans are going to see on YouTube. At least I know that I said something, and I tried, and that’s it.
“I don’t make music to try and get rich. I have built up my scoring career, and I can make money other ways other than just selling records. For me, FILTER are my mouthpiece.
“I just wanted to make a video that was like what MINISTRY in 1988 might’ve done right now. From my earliest upbringings, something like U2‘s ‘New Year’s Day’. They were a political band. They wrote ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, and they were talking about things that were important to them in Ireland. I just feel like there’s no other choice for me right now than to examine the craziness of America. This place known as Murica.”
Richard has successfully led and spearheaded FILTER for the last 20 years, releasing many platinum records, including “Title of Record” and “The Almagamut”.
The reunion of Patrick and Liesegang reportedly happened after they were challenged from the stage in mid-performance by their mutual friend Louise Post of VERUCA SALT, who stopped her concert to admonish them “to bury any bullshit, forget the crap, and get their shit together.” The two had an interesting conversation on the drive home. After initially treating their renewed collaboration as an experiment to see what “might happen,” they rediscovered not only their friendship, but also their unique “yin and yang” working style.
FILTER‘s most recent LP, “Crazy Eyes”, came out in April 2016 via Wind-Up Records.
