Dead Snares Debut New Stop-Motion Animated Mini-Film Created by Tobias Stretch (Radiohead-Weird Fishes)

Los Angeles, CA—Dead Snares front man and creator Jeffrey Cain has teamed up with video director and stop-motion animator Tobias Stretch to create a mini-film for “The Language,” the first track from the Dead Snares debut CD Speak The Language. An epic work of puppetry and stop motion, the video can be viewed at  http://vimeo.com/17600764.


Jeffrey Cain came across a Tobias Stretch film on the web last year and immediately felt compelled to reach out to Stretch to express how much he loved his work. The two began to exchange emails with Tobias sending updates on the new videos he was working on. Jeffrey was inspired. “Some nights I would run his videos on the screens in my studio and write music while watching them. It always seemed to be a beautiful fit. He is so detailed, but everything he does is raw and heartfelt.” Jeffrey sent Tobias his finished Dead Snares music and the collaboration began.

Stretch chose the first track on the new Dead Snares album “The Language” for his latest artistic vision. Beginning in August of this year, two months were devoted solely to design and puppet construction, with two additional months spent shooting the mini-film which is composed of half live action puppetry and half stop motion animation. The film tells a powerfully transcendent tale of love (represented by two life size humanoid puppets) that becomes threatened by a force of darkness (represented in the form of a 9 foot tall abstracted Jabberwocky head). The power of that magical love is used to fend off the force of darkness and carry the lovers to another level of existence towards beauty, peace and transcendence.

While making the video, the theme of loss and grief in one’s life resonated for both artists. Jeffrey explains “Tobias and I see this video as a monument to those who have suffered and lost and especially for those who we lost too soon. Losing Gregory Slay (drummer for Dead Snares & Remy Zero) this year has been the hardest thing I've ever been through. Tobias also suffered deep loss during the making of ‘The Language.’ This work has helped us heal and reminds us of why we create. Art is our therapy.”

Jeffrey Cain is a composer, audio archivist, and reticent rock guitarist. His latest work of art-as-music has come in the form of Dead Snares, an experiment in making music for the sake of itself which organically turned into a full-length CD, just released on the popantipop label. Hailing from Birmingham, AL, Cain left his Southern roots for a time to pursue his career in longtime band Remy Zero. When the band parted ways, Cain returned to his native South to rediscover his own voice. Cain took to collaborating with a variety of artists including Tricky, O+S, Isidore (a band he created with Steve Kilbey of the Church), as well as an effort called the Engine Room with whom he scored the Emmy nominated theme for the television show Nip/Tuck. Jeffrey’s new band Dead Snares is the culminating expression of the artistic changes he went through disconnecting from his long time band and making the journey back to himself.

Tobias Stretch is an acclaimed video director, known for his whimsical work with puppets and stop motion animation. Stretch hails from the Appalachian Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania where he has lived since birth, running through the woods as a child, in costume, creating worlds of wild fantasy. He continues today, doing the same kind of wild fantasizing, creating beautiful, strange and transcendent worlds for bands like Radiohead, Efterklang, Crystal Fighters and Dead Snares.