It was after a particularly rough break up that I really got started with the band properly. The relationship was an 8 month roller coaster of destruction for both parties and I learned a lot about my self during that time. It was a time where I was still drinking and working at the investment firm. My main goal and priority was working and making as much money as I could. I did not invest in the relationship and also didn’t get what I felt I needed from it and it erupted in to a great ball of fire and chaos when it ended.
Johan consoled me and my hurt ego by drinking whiskey and jamming on new riffs together. He showed me this one idea he had for a bass line and we started fleshing it out.
It was an upbeat funky, metal influenced bass riff that bounced along. I loved it, but I couldn’t keep up with the pace and my mind was blocked at the thought of having to sing along to that high of a BPM. I played around with the riff on my guitar and slowed it right down and we built the structure for a verse, chorus, pre-chorus and bridge which were all very simple variations of one another.
After Johan went home I stayed up playing the riff over and over while finishing off the rest of the whiskey. As the alcohol diluted my blood, I felt it start to boil and curdle and all of my anger began to form images in my mind that came out as words that I scribbled down. This went on the whole night before I eventually passed out.
The next day I tried to decipher my handwriting and piece together this massively long rambling of a mad man into some sort of structure.
I finally had something that resembled a story line and the lyrics to a song and I called Johan over. We jammed and worked out the kinks and then added Oscar and Mamud to the mix.
“Devil Woman” became the second complete song in our original set list and is also the longest song we have in our catalogue.
Playing it live, especially in the early days was always a lot of fun. The song has a lot of dynamic when played in front of an audience and I loved being able to get people to clap along to the middle section with the repetition chant and drums. It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.
After the success of Hell House and our first Music Video I wanted to continue the story and make a video for Devil Woman.
At the time I was working as a promoter, booking bands for a sober rock club called Slussen 7 in the south part of central Stockholm. The venue was going to be shut down because that area of the city is sinking so all the businesses had to vacate. I made a deal that I would put on a few extra shows and in return I would be allowed to shoot my video in the club for one weekend.
It was during one of these final shows that I put on that I had my first interaction with Kim [Liljedahl]. I booked his band Abandoned World to play and they ended up not turning up for their slot. Not a great first impression.
For the video I asked Sebastian [Sørgård] to return and direct, he felt as though I had such a clear vision that I should direct it myself but that he was happy to be on set and help out.
Again I put out more ads to put together my team and that is how I met Peshtiwar Botani and Johannes S. Karpe.
Peshti ended up being the DOP while Micke [Johansson] (who I was now very good friends with after we had attended a UNF camp together) filmed on steadicam. Johannes was unable to work on this project but would later become one of my best friends and most collaborative film making partners.
We planned and shot the whole video and I was so proud of the material we had captured. The quality was so much higher than our previous work with Hell House. We had a better venue, better equipment and we had the experience of having already shot a video before.
Sadly we made the rookie mistake of not backing up all of the footage and the only harddrive we had with all of the material fried and we lost everything. So that video in its original form will never see the light of day.
I managed to find the original script for the Music Video and thought I would share that with you here today.
Our Untold Story
"Devil Woman"
Official Music Video Script
By Xander J Turian
- Environment: Club area with stage, Concert venue [Slussen7].
Xander walks in fading from white (Fading in from where "Hell House" ends)
- The end of Hell House is heard on the radio/from speakers and fades out as Xander walks through the crowded club with the rest of the band following with a dark haired girl at his side.
They walk towards the stage and set up for the show they are clearly about to put on. Back drop is already in place and posters are around. People in OUS t shirts are seen in the crowd. People are excited and seem to be impressed when they see the band arrive.
Bass intro of Devil woman starts: We see the band on stage doing the final set ups, plugging in cables, tuning, their legs and feet walking around stage.
Camera pans around to show the awaiting audience already pushing towards the stage. We see the dark haired girl sitting in a booth alone, playing with her phone, she looks bored.
Crowd is partying during build up and start of the first verse.
During the line "As I looked deep into her eyes"
We cut back to girl and zoom in to her eyes as she looks up from her phone towards the stage, staring right into the camera.
Her face looks irritated and bored, with an icy stare.
(During chorus we see Xander and girl in booth talking, clearly later on in the evening after the show. -Xander is sweaty and tired after playing- Xander looks happy at first and is smiling, obviously proud after giving a great performance. The girl does not look impressed. She gives him the cold shoulder as he tries to get her attention. They seem to have a low conversation where Xander seems to be trying to plead with the girl and cheer her up. She looks bitchy and talks back in a nonchalant way. Meanwhile we see the blonde girl from Xanders dream in "Hell House" walk by and catches Xanders eye as he is still talking to the other girl.)
Cut back to band and pan over crowd and band during break after chorus [make clear that this is earlier in the evening again].
When the second verse starts we see the dark haired girl to the side near the back of the venue talking to another guy. During "The kind of woman makes you wanna
Scream & shout!" we cut to Xander on Stage, we see that he has seen her talking and flirting with this guy and he looks pissed as he performs.
Johan walks over to Xander on stage clearly noticing what is happening and says "What a Bitch" as he nods towards the corner where Girl & Guy are standing.
Cut back and forth, we see girl laughing and other guy smiling. They are clearly flirting, she touches his arm. Xander looks concerned and mad as he sings, but still puts on an entertaining show, the crowd completely unaware of what is going on between these two characters.
(Chorus: Again later in the evening, back to where we left girl & Xander in the booth after the first chorus. The conversation is getting slightly more heated. The girl gets up and leaves the booth. Xander follows and grabs her arm. She turns around and starts shouting and pointing around the room, clearly having an argument with Xander who tries to calm her down and is not sure what to do.)
During Break we cut back to earlier in the evening where the crowd is partying and the band is playing. Xander is singing to girl as we cut back and forth between them.
Again she looks bored as he pleads with her not to go as she turns around to walk out of the venue. Xander takes off his guitar and jumps off stage into the crowd that parts like the red sea creating a clear path with him on one side and the dark haired girl on the other [the blonde is seen at the front of one of the groups of the crowd]
Xander and girl meet in the middle, the crowd forming a circle around them. Xander is singing "I can’t take this anymore no, never again" as the music stops.
Girl starts shouting back (We don’t hear what she is saying) Xander just replies with "I can’t take this anymore never again". Argument is heated now and we can tell that Xander has had enough of being pushed around by this girl.
Camera lifts and films from above As Xander screams the last line the crowd closes in on them and the two disappear in the mass of people.
During SOLO
Option 1: Mamud is seen walking in as the crowd swallows Xander and girl. We then see him standing on a table with his guitar playing the solo and the crowd goes wild surrounding him and waving their hands trying to grab him. The band is still playing and we cut back & forth. Quick cuts including sound tech, lights, crowd etc.
Option 2: Camera is still on Crowd which then parts. Xander is in the middle with his guitar. The blonde girl is in front of him. He plays for her.
The band keeps playing and we cut back and forth. Quick cuts including sound tech, lights, crowd etc.
We now see Xander and the Blonde girl talking; they are sitting in the booth and introduce each other. Xander is explaining to her what happened and how he
"Promise myself that I wouldn’t slip" - he tells the story with his lyrics, the crowd still visible in the background. Xander grabs his hair in frustration as he explains his sorrows for the blonde. She leans in and passes him a note as she kisses his cheek and pulls him out of the booth and pushes him back towards the stage.
Someone hands him his guitar and repositions the mic for him, the rest of the band still playing as if nothing had happened, each member giving an understanding nod and smile.
The band plays for the crowd during the final verse and Xander is smiling as he looks at the blonde who is to one side near the front looking at him with a calm smile and a shimmering twinkle in her eye. It is clearly love at first sight.
During the final fade out of music the camera rolls over Xanders shoulder as he opens the note which reads: "Life is too short to not believe in fate <3"
Xander looks up and searches the room; at first he does not see the blonde. He turns around and sees her at the side of the stage smiling.
End
Our Untold Story
Devil Woman
Lyrics by Xander J Turian
I followed her into the ally way,
I could see she wanted to lead me astray.
And as I looked into her eyes,
I could see she was the devil in disguise.
Devil Woman Yeah,
She's got a grip on my heart.
Devil Woman, Woahoh
This is only the start.
Of something Wild & Crazy!
The kind of girl your momma warned you about
The kind of woman makes you wanna
Scream & Shout!
She'll hold you down like ball and chain
(What a bitch)
Then stand there laughing at you as you
Go Insane!
Devil Woman Yeah,
She's got a grip on my heart.
Devil Woman, Woahoh
This is only the start.
Of something Wild & Crazy!
She comes from the depths of hell,
one look at me and I'm under her spell.
She looks at me as she walks away,
Oh stop, won't you please stay!?
I can't take this anymore, no never again.
I can't take this anymore, no never again.
I can't take this anymore, no never again.
I can't take this anymore, no never again.
I can't take this anymore, no never again.
I can't take this anymore, no never again.
I can't take this anymore, no never again.
I can't take this anymore!
I promised myself that I wouldn't slip,
I promised myself no to fall back to bed.
But she's so damn deep inside of my head
(If you know what I mean)
A grip so tight that I
Wish I was dead!
Devil Woman Yeah, She's got a grip on my heart. Devil Woman, Woahoh This is only the start. Of something Wild & Crazy!
The Only Proof We Ever Made The Video