Watch Itchy-O's First Music Video, for "Gallow's Disco"

The first time Austin-based filmmaker Joe Nicolosi saw the avant-garde marching band Itchy-O was at the Stanley Film Festival in Estes Park.

"I was immediately terrified and overwhelmed by this incredible experience that was happening, not just on the stage but all around me," Nicolosi says.

He was drawn to the act's pulsating lights, pounding drums, screeching guitars and black-clad performers swarming the crowd, and by the time the show was over, he had ripped off his shirt and was dancing. "I was in a group of people just writhing in throes of excitement and passion," he says.

Inspired, the filmmaker wanted to collaborate on a music video. "I wanted the video to highlight what's already awesome about the band," he says.

When the group came to Austin for Fantastic Fest, Nicolosi shot both of its performances, and he staged scenes to create the video for "Gallow's Disco." His goal was to give people a good sense of what it's like to be at an Itchy-O concert.

For those who have been lucky enough to attend an Itchy-O performance, you'll recognize all the usual elements in the music video: futuristic drummers; guitarists and dancers wearing hats vaguely reminiscent of sombreros, their faces hidden behind burka-like or Zapatista-style masks; Larry the Lion; smoke-shooting bazookas and confetti.
The difference between the act's video and its live performance is the level of control over the visual experience, Nicolosi says. See Itchy-O live, and the band is in your face, up close and personal; the experience is as messy as it is all-consuming. The video, on the other hand, is meticulously organized, the images mimicking the sounds, beat by beat.

"Gallow's Disco" comes out roughly a month ahead of the iconic Denver act's concert at the Gothic Theatre, where the band will be celebrating its latest album, From the Overflowing, put out by Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles. The fifty-person troupe is also headed on a September tour to Austin, New Orleans, Kansas City, Chicago, Hot Springs, Arkansas, and beyond.

Itchy-O, 8 p.m. August 26, Gothic Theater, 3263 South Broadway, Englewood, $19.99, 303-789-9206.