Hot Snakes - I Shall Be Free

What this video is

Released February 11, 2020, 'I Shall Be Free' arrived as the second in a planned series of four seasonal 7" singles on Sub Pop Records, bridging Hot Snakes' 2018 comeback album Jericho Sirens and a forthcoming LP. The video's production — animated entirely by a 13-year-old — is a radical expression of punk's DIY ethics, bypassing professional video production entirely in favor of a family-made artifact. This embeds…

Why it matters

As a post-hardcore and garage punk track on Sub Pop, 'I Shall Be Free' documents the ongoing vitality of San Diego's underground rock scene, rooted in Rocket from the Crypt / Drive Like Jehu lineages. The video's youth-directed hand-animation is a culturally significant artifact of DIY punk visual…

The director

Tiger Reis is the child of Hot Snakes guitarist and founder Swami John Reis. At 13 years old, Tiger directed and animated the official music video for Hot Snakes' 2020 single 'I Shall Be Free,' released on Sub Pop Records. The video represents a notable…