Chad VanGaalen - Peace On The Rise

What this video is

Released May 2011 alongside Diaper Island, VanGaalen's first album recorded at his self-built Calgary studio Yoko Eno, 'Peace On The Rise' exemplifies the early-2010s moment when indie artists on labels like Sub Pop reclaimed total audio-visual authorship. VanGaalen's animation practice — rooted in hand-drawn DIY illustration — sits at the intersection of psychedelic folk, cosmic science fiction, and the lo-fi…

Why it matters

A landmark example of musician-as-total-auteur within early-2010s psychedelic indie folk. The video advances the tradition of hand-crafted animation as music video form — connecting to Ralph Bakshi and René Laloux (Fantastic Planet) — while grounding it in lo-fi Canadian indie culture. It…

The director

Calgary-born Canadian musician, visual artist, and animator. A staple of Sub Pop Records since 2004, VanGaalen has received three Polaris Prize nominations. He is equally recognized for his musical output — spanning DIY indie rock, folk, and psychedelia —…