The outspoken Los Angeles metal band OTEP, take on the NRA and the omnipresent issue of gun violence in their new video for the song “Shelter In Place.” The single is off their recently released 8th album, Kult 45, from Napalm records. The setting of the graphic video is a classroom and features singer Otep Shamaya using a gold handgun as a microphone. A chalkboard, on which the messages “Help Us” and “Enough Is Enough” are scrawled, is shown in the background. View the video, directed by OTEP and filmed by PR Brown, below.
Vocalist Otep Shamaya says, “The video for “Shelter In Place” challenges the NRA’s irrational claim that only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun. It aims the blame of mass murders of our children in school shootings directly on the NRA, not necessarily its members, but the administration who continue to fight for people on Terrorist Watch Lists to own a gun. Why? It’s my belief the more murders that occur, the more money they make from weapons manufacturers and increases in membership which strengthens their ability to be a political power that continues to frighten the Republican owned Congress.”
“The number of mass murders of children in schools by gun violence is our national shame yet the Republican owned Congress (and shills for the NRA) have done nothing, not a single thing, to protect our kids. In contrast, when ONE man attempted to detonate a shoe bomb on board a plane in flight, legislation was enacted to protect people from this SINGLE attempt of failed terrorism. Now all of us have to remove our shoes before boarding a flight. All of us have to be searched and x-rayed.”
Shamaya goes on to say, “ The NRA may have begun as an advocacy group for the Second Amendment but it’s my belief they have regressed into something akin to a homegrown terrorist organization that benefits from mass murders both financially and as a political power, This is completely unacceptable.”
Known for her outspokenness, Shamaya uses her musical platform to bring voice to what she views as the social and political injustices of various communities. On Kult 45, the band takes on hate groups, the Trump administration and rape culture. Specifically targeting Stanford student and convicted rapist, Brock Turner. The album also includes a cover of Rage Against The Machine’s song “Wake Up” and a bonus track featuring recorded voicemails from fans thanking OTEP for changing their lives with their music.
Named after vocalist Otep Shamaya, OTEP formed in California in 2000. Current members include Aristotle (guitars), Drewski Barnes (bass), Justin Kier (drums) and Otep Shamaya (vocals).
OTEP is currently on tour in support of Kult 45. See remaining summer tour dates below.
OTEP Summer 2018 Tour Dates
8/12 Sacramento, CA @ Holy Diver
8/14 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
8/15 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
8/17 Fresno, CA @ Fulton 55
8/18 Ventura, CA @ Ventura Theater
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