Dancer in Mastodon’s "The Motherload" Video Defends Band, Details Behind-the-Scenes Experience

In case you hadn’t heard, Mastodon filled their clip for “The Motherload” with a bunch of twerking dancers. It caused a bit of controversy, but the band’s Brann Dailor came to its defense. “With the video itself, we wanted to make sure that the women that were there were in charge and that they were having fun,” he said.

As Revolver points out, one of the dancers from the video, Jade, has now written a Tumblr post detailing her experience working on the video. In it, she defends the band’s decision to use Atlanta dancers, saying they were, indeed, having fun on the set.

We came across from different walks of life. Real deal ATL strippers joked with me—I’m a pole dance student with a background in African American literature and cultural theory, while my ballet dancer friend laughed with the other ladies, doing pirouettes in between takes. If you read the interview in which the band says that we were having fun with each other and not for the male gaze, you should know he was totally right. My other friend who is the best conglomeration of every dancer there—pole dancer, stripper, PhD in women’s lit and African American lit focus, and a dance instructor—could be the poster child of what this was. Women having fun with each other. Praising each other. A glimpse into what we do and that we are bigger than what we do.

She writes that while she wasn’t concerned with “thin, knee-jerk reactions to asses and twerking,” she was put off by a subset of metal fans making racist and sexist remarks about the dancers. She argues that it’s not a satirical video, but rather one with an inclusive message.

One of the reasons this video, for me, is garnering so much attention is that truly the women are not just asses—and there are a lot of fantastic asses in the building—but shown as 3D people, which scares folk. Another is the concern for cultural appropriation. From us and from them. The fear of metal being “tainted”, the fear of the band using a dance form associated with black culture for their own gain. These fears boil down into my one response: we all belong. This band made it such that by the time the shoot was over, we all went home and got the track. (I’m playing it on the jukebox at my local bar as I write.) This video wasn’t a spoof or mocking or satire, in my opinion. The guys are ATL homegrown. As much as metal is in their bones, so is trap music, so is Old Fourth Ward, so is Magic City. They repped Georgia not out of exploitation, but because it resonates with them and is a part of them. This video proves that metal can reach out and can be reached out to without parody, without hierarchy, and it is a good thing.

Ask us if it was racist or sexist. We were the ones right there experiencing it. I’ll tell you from my view: no.

Read her full post. Here’s the video:

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