MAGNET Exclusive: Premiere Of King Youngblood’s “Thread” Video

“It’s the closest we’ve gotten to just straight-up making a movie,” says King Youngblood’s Cameron Lavi-Jones of the bracingly cinematic clip for “Thread,” from the band’s latest LP, Big Thank (Dice Lab). “We did our DIY production thing—from the concept to the production planning to shooting in multiple locations on the fly to editing.”

A musician and activist, Lavi-Jones is also a producer, sound engineer and session musician at Studio Sage and Robert Lang Studios near Seattle. He founded King Youngblood while he was still a communications student at the University of Washington, where he focused on marginalized communities, social-justice issues and the democratization of media. Now a recent alum, Lavi-Jones hasn’t wasted any time charting a fresh course for “Black-fronted” heavy rock, seizing on inspiration from the likes of Fishbone and Living Colour and nudging the needle in a new direction. He’s also created Afrothunder, a comics series based on the King Youngblood mythos.

Through his numerous connections in the scene, Lavi-Jones hooked up with Jeremy DeBardi (a.k.a. Steel Beans), whose sudden rise in the Pacific Northwest has led to supporting slots with Tenacious D and Tool. DeBardi stars in “Thread,” and he also helped direct the video.

“Through this shoot, we sparked a real friendship, and there’s a lot of mutual love and respect between Steel Beans and King Youngblood now,” says Lavi-Jones. “We bonded over being big Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fans—so throw that in with a little Thelma & Louise and a mutilated pineapple, and you’ve got this video.”

We’re proud to premiere King Youngblood’s “Thread.”

—Hobart Rowland