Antler Family sprang to life in 2017, a potent mix of Mia Dean (Blood Moon Wedding), Tom Flynn (Fang, Duh, Tapeworm, Melvins), Tom Dean (Blood Moon Wedding, Code of the West), and the infamous Stark Raving Brad (Hellbillies, The Freak Accident). The Oakland quartet churns out dissonant goth noise punk and pagan waltz metal, slathered with sludgy guitar riffs and heavy synth drones. Dark murder-folk whispers and slumberous sea shanties sneak in, twisting standard song formats into something unexpected. Those who dig Swans, Jucifer, Melvins, Big Brave, and Chelsea Wolfe will find kindred spirits here.
Antler family
The video for Bring Me Back My Love was directed and edited by the multifaceted Mia Dean, Antler Family’s front-woman, with cinematography by her frequent cohort, Ehret Fieldhouse. The video dances on dual timelines: one showcasing the band’s raw performance, the other plunging into a twisted, otherworldly reality. Here, actor Bea Sandri, our tormented Antler Maiden, wanders through the woods, her anguish palpable. It’s a haunting blend of stark performance and surreal storytelling, a visual venture that grips the viewer in a dual grip of stark reality and unsettling fantasy, mirroring the band’s own dissonant and eerie essence.
“I met Bea Sandri in Film School and was impressed with the way she expressed herself,” says Mia Dean. “She is young, but really into 90’s esthetics, and Kurt Cobain, which suits our kind of grunge, nostalgia vibe. It was great fun to direct her in our music video, and to use physical theater as a way explore the dark mysterious themes in Bring Me Back My Love.”
Watch the video for “Bring Me Back My Love” below:
Antler Family’s debut album was birthed in Oakland, CA, at Earhammer Studios, with Grammy-winning Greg Wilkinson (High On Fire) at the helm. Their melodic vocals soar over a massive wall of sound, recorded by Wilkinson and mastered by Justin Weis at Trakworx in South San Francisco. Delayed for years by a worldwide wave of physical and mental maladies, the album finally saw the light of day in January 2024, released on Boner Records. It’s a testament to their tenacity, a thunderous blend of grit and grandeur forged in the heart of the Bay Area.
Tom Flynn, one of the most influential guitar players to ever come out of the San Francisco punk scene, founded the San Francisco independent record label, Boner Records in the early 80’s, which has released many notable San Francisco and East Bay punk records, and launched The Melvins into fame. Mia Dean is known internationally for her critically acclaimed album Blood Moon Wedding with anarcho-post-punk legend, Steve Lak (Zounds).
The cover art hails from the public domain, drawn from the famous ‘Midnight Series’ of deer at night. Captured in the late 1800s by George Shiras III, the man Hemingway called “the most interesting man I know,” it’s a glimpse into the dawn of wildlife photography. Shiras, the silent stalker, would drift in a canoe under the cloak of darkness, his camera poised at the prow. Listening intently, he’d snap a shot at any rustle or movement. The flash would explode, sending deer scattering, but the moment, frozen in time, was already his.
Listen to Antler Family below. You can also order limited edition Antler-colored vinyl, which is available here.
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