*Sigh*
*Rubs temples*
Guys. We need to talk.
It appears that despite living in a world of infinite possibilities and unprecedented access to immediate information, some of us still can’t get our head around the idea that we are allowed to love who we want to love.
It’s a frustration felt by Melbourne outfit Storm The Sky whose brand new video for current single Lilac was met with a bunch of hateful, hurtful and homophobic backlash.
The video tells the age-old narrative of turbulent love, following the character of Dom as he spirals out of control following a break-up with his boyfriend – the only person who ever loved him for himself. Cinematically it’s an absolute feat, and as well as speaking on issues of drug use and abuse, it proved refreshing to see a heavy band take on a narrative of sexual diversity.
However, Storm The Sky have now found themselves having to take to Facebook to hit back at some foal commentary they’ve seen on the video and to explain some of the concepts they’ll be exploring on their new album, writing that “It’s extremely disappointing to see how alive and well homophobia still is in 2016”.
“We have seen a lot of hateful things said online about the two men in the video (one of which being my partner’s brother),” writes drummer Alex Trail.
“How is it then, that in this day and age so many still feel that love between two people can be ‘sinful’ because of a person’s gender.
“As human beings we all share a common experience. Pain, love and lust are universal truths, not restricted to the paradigm of the heterosexual romantic relationship…In the video for our song Lilac, the character Shane’s only sin is his betrayal to himself and to the former partner that he still holds in his heart and the infliction of pain upon another person. Nothing more.”
Storm The Sky say they’ve chosen to highlight the homophobic backlash they’ve received, “in hopes that like-minded people will continue to stand up and reject it.”
Music Feeds has seen some of the homophobic and harmful comments the band are referring to and have chosen not to publish them here. In order to fight the hate, the band are asking for unity.
“Share in a protest, share your own art or just share a conversation with somebody and together we can cover the world in images of love, of all shapes and forms. Remembering that hate is bred from fear and fear is only cured by understanding and ultimately love.
Storm The Sky will be releasing their second full-length album Sin Will Find You on Friday, 5th August. You can read their full post below the amazing video for Lilac.
Watch: Storm The Sky – Lilac
