The video corresponds with Olivia Neutron-John’s guttural, passionate track “death/tango.” Back in May, Nasty—who also plays bass in Chain & the Gang—traveled to Philadelphia with Cigarette‘s Richard Howard to film the single-camera visual. Nasty directed and largely choreographed; Howard helped film and edit. The back-up dancers come from SWARM, a Philly-based music and dance group. In an email, Nasty writes that the video’s main dance sequence was capped at three takes—and the team filmed the whole thing in a single night.

Nasty held quick rehearsals in Philly about a month before filming, and things just kind of worked out naturally. “Basically, I showed everyone the dance I had made for the song, and there were certain moves I imagined doing together, and other moves that were just for me to make,” Nasty writes. “We all felt it out and the dance came together as a group.”

Dance is a huge part of Nasty’s intense live performances—behind a Casio, the artist jumps, kicks and lunges—so structuring the video around dance seemed like a no-brainer. Nasty’s dance style and vocal delivery bear similarities: They’re excruciatingly raw, and in this case, both reflect suffering. “The video is another way of articulating the pain I went through when my best friend passed away,” the performer writes. “First through the song, then through the movement.” The video is dedicated to Nasty’s late friend, who went by Richie Terrific.

“I don’t really know how to talk about dancing, as I’m not a trained dancer,” Nasty writes, “but for me, dancing is moving in a way that only makes sense to you [and] letting your body be a violent reaction.”

Now, the artist is on a path toward a calmer state of mind. “I guess you can never know for sure, but I feel like this is the last manifestation of this feeling (of not knowing how to cope),” Nasty writes. “I feel a new beginning. I feel at peace with it now, ready to celebrate his life and what it meant to me.”

Olivia Neutron-John plays a release show Thursday, Sept. 18 at 8:30 p.m. at Meeps in Adams Morgan, and another show Friday, Sept. 26 at Comet Ping Pong.

For more Priests, check out Bandwidth’s video sessions with the band.

Naomi Punk:

Priests:

Downtown Boys:

Neonates:

The brains behind the outfit is Anna Nasty—also a member of Ian Svenonius’ Chain & the Gang—who brought the project to D.C. upon moving here from Tempe, Arizona, just a handful of months ago. Olivia Neutron-John is the artist’s (mostly) solo act, a project whose sound feels like a rare experimental gem discovered in some neglected attic.

Easy listening this is not: The vocalist’s guttural screams mingle with fluttering, screeching saxophone as Nasty hovers above synthetic drum beats with occasionally indecipherable but heartfelt lyrics. A couple of ONJ’s tracks on Bandcamp are actually multiple songs strung together into short albums, with names like Injury Train And I’m Never Getting Off It. They’re somewhat long but worth the journey. (Nasty’s Tumblr page promises a proper debut album—and a music video—sometime soon.)

Olivia Neutron-John performs at CD Cellar in Arlington tomorrow night. Before the show, Bandwidth caught up with Nasty to discuss performance style, the inclusiveness of the D.C. music scene and the unlikely influence American Idol had on the project’s name.

Bandwidth: Tell me about Olivia Neutron-John. How do you describe your sound?

Anna Nasty: I describe it as “aggressive bedroom pop”—music made in my bedroom with emotion and aggression. It’s post-bro music. There’s a lot of music that’s post-feminist. I don’t really like that term. A lot of music made is post-feminist, but I’m actually post-bro. Music made outside of the influence of bros.

What’s an Olivia Neutron-John performance like?

Visceral. I wear a 100 percent wool jumpsuit. I wear it year-round. I don’t know how to describe it. Some would call it, maybe, provocative, in a weird way. It’s just a jumpsuit that I wear. But my performance is very emotional and aggressive, like my music. I dance when I play. I make these dance routines to all my songs, but I can’t fully perform any of them because I have to play keyboard and sing when I play. So live is just me trying to negotiate that.

Since you’re new to D.C., what do you think about the music scene? What kind of response have you been getting to your act?

I think it’s really cool here. I’ve gotten such an overwhelmingly positive response being here that I really feel welcome and a part of D.C. I knew some people before I got here. It’s been really good being in D.C.—I feel like I’ve been able to be really active and I play in other projects besides Olivia Neutron-John and I’ve been totally busy with music since I got here, which is cool.

You also play in Chain & the Gang. Is it difficult to devote time to Olivia Neutron-John when you’re busy with them?

Yeah, I’d say so, but I like to keep my plate full. So it’s OK with me—I’d rather be busy than not.

Are you a huge Olivia Newton-John fan, or is your band name the kind punny of joke that’s been rampant among indie-minded bands lately?

It’s out of admiration, really. I’m not one of those people who made this weird celebrity funny band name because I’m making fun of anyone. I was watching an episode of American Idol and Olivia Newton-John was the judge, and she was just wearing this shirt that said “it is what it is,” and it was really inspiring. I love that phrase, and I just love that she was a judge on American Idol, wearing that shirt. And then my friend turned to me and said “Is Olivia Neutron-John a really bad band name, or a really good band name?” And I had just shown everyone my music for the first time, and I didn’t know what to call it—and everyone kinda looked at me and was like, “That’s what your thing should be called.”

Olivia Neutron-John performs with Feral Future, I Im Eye My and Nox Saturday at 8 p.m. at CD Cellar in Arlington. Top photo by Michael Andrade. See the original at andradexcobain.com.