After a strong comeback with last fall’s (How To Live) As Ghosts album and its hit “Novocaine,” 10 years is offering an inside look at some inner-band drama with the video for its next single “Burnout” — premiering exclusively below.
The clip, directed by Robert John Kley in Las Vegas, features the quintet playing the song inside a circle of intense lights while an actor watches from outside, clearly experiencing some existential angst while watching the performance. It’s a not-so-veiled reference to the group’s acrimonious schism with guitarist Ryan “Tater” Johnson in 2016, which brought members Brian Vodinh and Matt Wantland back into 10 Years to join frontman Jesse Hasek.
“The video depict pretty closely what the lyrics are talking about,” guitarist-drummer Vodinh tells Billboard. “It’s talking about someone who was in the circle for a long time, then is all of a sudden out of the circle. It’s not really meant to be ugly; Because we had just gotten out of that situation it was something that was just on our minds and very much a part of the early writing sessions of this album, so it naturally made its way into the songwriting a bit. And I think the video is an honest depiction of the song and why we wrote it.”
The clip does end with the actor/outcast seeming to come to terms with the situation and realize what he’s done, although Vodinh acknowledges that “in real life I don’t believe that’s the case, so far. But I think we wanted the video to wrap up with that sense of awareness.”
Hopes are high for “Burnout” after “Novocaine” shot to No. 5 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Songs Chart last summer, 10 Years’ biggest hit since “Wasteland” in 2005. “Burnout” has also logged more than five million streams even before its official release as a single. “The song has really been reacting live, too,” Vodinh reports. “A lot of these songs have catered to the live environment, so when we started playing them live they just felt so right and the crowd is definitely reacting to that. We’ve been playing (‘Burnout’) live since before the album came out, and it definitely reacts with the fans.”
10 Years will be playing a lot more, too. The group wraps up its current tour with Breaking Benjamin during early June, then heads out with Seether during mid-July. International dates are also on the horizon.
And, he adds, the group is happy to see that the new album has also brought in a new constituency of fans.
“Y’know, since about 2002 every show we’ve played, people are waiting for ‘Wasteland.’ There’s always that one drunk guy in the middle of the crowd who yells ‘Play Wasteland!’ every time,” Vodinh says. “But since this album came out I’ve noticed there’s a whole new kind of demographic of young people in the front of these shows. We’ll play through the whole old catalog and they won’t really be singing along to anything, almost as if they’re not familiar with it yet. And then we kick into ‘Novocaine’ and they know every word. So that’s been really, really refreshing and nice to see that after starting this band in 1998 we’re still releasing new material that’s bringing in new fans. And hopefully (‘Burnout’) will keep that going.”
Tour Dates
! w/ Breaking Benjamin
@ w/ Seether
5/09 Springfield Shrine Mosque !
5/11 Sioux Falls, SD The District !
5/13 Somerset, WI Somerset Amphitheater – Northern Invasion
5/15 Joliet, IL The Forge
5/16 Clive, IA 7 Flags Event Center !
5/17 Peoria, IL Peoria RiverFront
5/18 Columbus, OH Rock on the Range @ Mapfre Stadium
5/24 Knoxville, TN The International
5/26 Dallas, TX Starplex Pavillion
5/27 Pryor, OK Rocklahoma
5/30 Detroit, MI St. Andrew’s Hall
5/31 Sturgis, SD Nikki’s
6/01 Sauget, IL Pop’s Nightclub
6/02 Kansas City, KS The Grounds At Kansas Speedway
6/03 Champaign, IL The City Center
6/30 Inwood, WV Shiley Acres
7/12 Louisville, KY Bourbon Hall
7/14 Oshkosh, WI Ford Festival Park
7/15 Belvedere, IL The Apollo Theater
7/16 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater @
7/17 Wichita, KS The Cotillion @
7/18 Oklahoma City, OK Diamond Ballroom @
7/20 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Casino – Wolf Den
7/22 Houston, TX House of Blues @
7/24 Dallas, TX The Bomb Factory @
7/26 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre @
7/27 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex @
7/28 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues @
7/30 Boise, ID Knitting Factory Boise @
7/31 Seattle, WA Showbox SODO @
8/01 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory Spokane
8/04 Sturgis, SD Iron Horse Saloon
8/07 Council Bluffs, IA Westfair Amphitheater @
8/09 Dubuque, IA Q Casino @
8/10 Flint, MI Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center
8/11 Sault Sainte Marie, MI Kewadin Casino @