Video Premiere: Dani Bell & the Tarantist: “Crave”

With so much goodness everywhere you look, it can be hard to choose the highlights in San Diego’s music scene. Hell, it can be hard even if you narrow down your criteria to “bands that feature Al Howard.” But lately, no group has been catching our ear as much as Dani Bell & the Tarantist.

The band’s recent debut album, Dark West, is a seductive collection of smoky, single-malt soul. Frontwoman Dani Bell’s airy vocals make each lyric sound like a precious secret entrusted to the listener, while every gleaming guitar line and doo-wop beat evoke peak-era David Lynch.

So it’s with no small amount of excitement that we present to you the premiere of Dani Bell & the Tarantist’s brand-new video, “Crave.” The video was directed by Tyler J French of Future Loon Productions and Blake Raynor of Kakalak Collective. The duo recently shot a live video for Mrs. Magician, which you can watch here.

According to Kakalak Collective, “Crave” was filmed in various locations in and around San Diego, including Jacumba.

“We parked the van and hiked for a couple miles to a deserted train and let the surroundings dictate the nature of the shots,” they told us. “Then we spent some time in East Village and Banker’s Hill before ending the shoot at the Lion’s Share.”

The video stars band members Bell and Howard, who alternate between displays of stoicism and unbridled emotion.

As eloquently stated by Howard, “We went to the ghost tracks of goat trestles, rusted iron, abandoned trains, modern hieroglyphs, and a pugilist sun. We left our mark, communed with caustic nature, and Dani tapped into something raw and animalistic.”

“Crave” was screened this past Saturday for the audience at the Dark West vinyl-release show/Kakalak Collective launch party, which was held at the Union art space in Barrio Logan. But for anyone who wasn’t lucky enough to be there, we’re proud to premiere it for you now.

4 thoughts on “Video Premiere: Dani Bell & the Tarantist: “Crave””

  1. I find it disappointing that you didn’t spell the name of the band correctly… It’s not Tantrist.
    Kind of a bummer to write such a great article about the band, but not get their name right…
    It’s TARANTIST….

    1. Sorry if that came off rude… Did not mean it to sound like that, I just really find it disappointing to get the name wrong in an article. That being said, great article. The video rocks!

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