The National Let Loose in ‘Graceless’
Known for their somber demeanor, the National let loose in their new video for “Graceless,” shooting potato guns, riding bicycles into pools and shotgunning a beer or four.
“[It] involved a great deal of binge drinking beer,” singer Matt Berninger told Rolling Stone recently. “We shot it at my mom and dad’s house in Cincinnati and kind of destroyed the place and ourselves along the way.”
The National Reveal Hard Partying Behind ‘Graceless’ Video
Filmed in black and white and directed by Sophia Peer, the video hijinks resulted in actual injuries to the band members. Bassist Scott Devendorf gave himself a concussion on the slip and slide, and Berninger banged up his face a bit while riding a bike into the pool. “I had glasses on, I had bruises around my eyes where the glasses hit. It was the most brutal video we’ve ever done. It was really fun, but it cost us. No one died, though.”
“Graceless,” from the National‘s newest album Trouble Will Find Me, is the band’s latest video to show the musicians’ sense of humor: a clip for “Sea of Love” released earlier this year packed the band into a small room, and sent a little kid in to dance while they performed.