CROBOT – Dads Dominate "Not For Sale" Video

Crobot deliver some seriously funky hard rock, but they’re having a good time doing it. Just watch the video for their new single “Not For Sale” (below).

The video, directed by veteran helmer Dan Packer, was inspired by the band joking around in the studio, when they were recording their forthcoming album, Welcome To Fat City, which is scheduled for released September 23rd via Wind-up Records.

There’s a line, often repeated in “Not For Sale,” which goes, “Who paid your debt to be here?” However, as singer and lyricist Brandon Yeagley revealed to The Wall Street Journal, the band and their production partners thought it sounded more like, “Who paid your dad to be here?” Engineer Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails, Them Crooked Vultures), who mixed the record, had actually thought that’s what the band was singing the whole time, Yeagley says.

So the Pottsville, PA, rockers saw the lyrical mixup — which is in the tradition of “bathroom on the right” and “Hold me closer, Tony Danza” — as an opportunity to have some fun with a video. “We try to make fun of ourselves any chance we get,” says Yeagley. “We said, ‘You know what, we’re going to beat everyone to the punch on this joke.’”

The result: The video shows Crobot – Yeagley, guitarist Chris Bishop, bassist Jake Figueroa and drummer Paul Figueroa — playing “Not For Sale” in an impromptu show for a mob of dads. How did the video’s makers go about rounding up so many dad-like men? Yeagley says the director told him it’s not as hard as one would expect.

The kind of sense of humor that led to the creation of the video extends to much of what Crobot does. Yeagley says his work is informed by the tongue-in-cheek humor of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy author Douglas Adams, who died in 2001; and the gonzo antics of Hunter S. Thompson, who died in 2005.

Yeagley is also a fiction writer at heart. He’s working on a graphic novel that could be released late this year or early next year, while he and the band have constructed a fictional “Crobot universe.”

“I’m not the kind of guy to wear my heart on my sleeve or sing about breakups or anything like that,” he says. “I always found it’s much easier for me to let my feelings come out through these characters and stories.”

Welcome To Fat City tracklisting:

“Welcome To Fat City”
“Play It Cool”
“Easy Money”
“Not For Sale”
“Hold On For Dear Life”
“Temple In The Sky”
“Right Between The Eyes”
“Blood On The Snow”
“Steal The Show”
“Moment Of Truth”
“Plague Of The Mammoths”

Catch Crobot on the road:

July
26 – San Antonio, TX – Fitzgerald’s*
27 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar*

August
2 – Bloomington, IL – Castle Theater **
3 – Minneapolis, MN – Mill City Nights**
5 – Sturgis, ND – Full Throttle Saloon**
6 – Fort Collins, CO – Aggie Theater**
7 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex**
9 – Regina, SK – Conexus Convention Hall**
10 – Calgary, AB – Marquee Beer Market & Stage**
11 – Edmonton, AB – The Ranch**
12 – Saskatoon, SK – Saskatoon Events Center**
14 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre**
17 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House**
19 – Council Bluggs – River Riot**
20 – Columbia, MO – Blue Note* (also w/ Killswitch Engage)
23 – Colorado Springs, CO – The Black Sheep^
25 – Ringle, WI – Q and Z Expo Center^
28 –  Fargo, ND – The Nestor Tavern^
30 – Billings, MT – Pub Station^
31 –  Jerome, ID – Diamondz Event Center^

September
4 –  Seattle, WA-  Studio 7^
17 – Revolution Rock Festival – Mashantucket, CT
18 – Chester, PA – Rock Allegiance Festival

October
1 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life Festival
2 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life Festival
28 – Berlin, Germany – Mercedes Benz Arena***
31 – Munich, Germany – Olynphiahalle***

November
1 – Linz, Austria – Tipps Arena***
2 – Vienna, Austria – Stadhalle***
4 – Innsbruk, Austria – Olympiagalle***
5 – Vernier, Switzerland – Arena***
7 – Stuttgart, Germnay – Schleyerhalle***
8 – Zurich, Switzerland – Hallenstadion***
9 – Koln, Germany – LANXESS Arena***
10 – Frankfurt, Germany – Festhalle***
12 – Leipzig, germany – Arena***
13 – Oberhausen, Germany – Koenig-Pilsner Arena***
14 – Forest, Belgium – Forest National***
15 – Amsterdam Zuidoost, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome***

* with The Virginmarys, Aeges
** with Sevendust
*** with Volbeat
^ headline dates with Ape Machine