Melbourne’s Twelve Foot Ninja have revealed the results of their record-breaking crowdfunding project to create a music video of ‘Hollywood blockbuster’ proportions.
The prog-metal five-piece today premiered the long-awaited mini-movie for their single ‘Ain’t That A Bitch’, produced from over $50,000 raised from fan funding through a Pozible campaign launched last year.
Promising an ambitious, action-packed tale of the band’s battle with a (literal) internet troll, the finished crowdfunded product stars Twelve Foot Ninja in a pop culture filled epic that covers everything from nods to The Karate Kid and multiple videogame references, to featuring a seven-foot tall Alaskan bear and Penthouse ‘Pet’ Madison Rhys.
Tying the wacky elements together is a fantasy narrative in which guitarist Steve “Stevic” MacKay exacts revenge on an internet troll, complete with lavish prosthetic make-up done by an FX wizard who worked on The Hobbit, culminating in a very gory conclusion and a pow-wow between Twelve Foot Ninja and members of fellow US prog-metal titans, Periphery.
Despite the very NSFW content of the music video, the band emphasise that they “doesn’t condone violence in the real world” and “wanted to create a video that portrayed the ultimate revenge fantasy to give a voice to victims of cyber bullying.”
MacKay, who wrote, produced and directed the clip, says “there is a line internet trolls step over.. It’s the line that separates constructive disagreement from vitriolic words with malicious intent.” While the band’s Facebook post introducing the video notes; “we really do encourage kindness towards each other (over cannibalism).”
The ‘Ain’t That A Bitch’ epic has already reached over 5,000 views on YouTube (at the time of publication), which is ten times the 500 supporters who pledged funds towards Twelve Foot Ninja’s Pozible campaign, which ultimately raised $52,600 for their clip. The band “wanted to create a video that portrayed the ultimate revenge fantasy to give a voice to victims of cyber bullying.”
In fact, over $50,000 was raised within the first 29 days of launching the project – despite initially aiming for a goal of $45,000 – making Twelve Foot Ninja the world record holders of the highest crowdfunding project to date, hurdling over the bar previously set by Eskimo Joe in February 2013, after they raised $40,000 in 60 days towards recording their sixth studio album, The Wasteland.
Twelve Foot Ninja also threw in a range of exclusive rewards for pledgers, including signed releases and sauce bottles (for a pledge of $200), signed snorkel set ($205), g-strings ($150), and even a one-on-one Skype session with a band member for a pledge of $250.
One diehard fan from Singapore even donated a whopping $10,000 (a fifth of the final budget) towards the Pozible campaign, the über-genrous pledger earning themselves a private audience with Twelve Foot Ninja, booking airfares for the band to fly over and perform live and cook at a birthday BBQ (hopefully with a different result to that in the music video).
‘Ain’t That A Bitch’ is the fourth single to be lifted from the Melbourne band’s full-length debut, Silent Machine, which has gained the band an international following since its US release last October. Making celebrity fans out of Dream Theater/Transatlantic drum virtuoso Mike Portnoy, Fear Factory’s Dino Cazares, and instant converts out of Periphery after supporting them on a North American tour last year.
Twelve Foot Ninja return to US for a run of festival appearances through April and May, including at Rock On The Range and Carolina Rebellion, and have teased plans for an Australian tour to be announced shortly.
UPDATE: Twelve Foot Ninja’s Troll Burger tour, a headline trek of Australia through March/April, has been announced. Dates and details here.
