Watch Butch Vig Supergroup’s Video for Psychedelic Song ‘Gravity Rules’
Garbage drummer/acclaimed rock producer Butch Vig‘s new supergroup, 5 Billion in Diamonds, released a psychedelic video for their debut track, “Gravity Rules.” Former Soundtrack of Our Lives Singer Ebbot Lundberg appears in the song’s equally trippy video, floating among the stars in a trance-like state.
5 Billion in Diamonds is a collaboration between Vig, DJ James Grillo and producer-keyboardist Andy Jenks. Their self-titled debut LP, out August 11th via 100% Records, also features guitarist Alex Lee (Goldfrapp, Suede), bassist Sean Cook (Spiritualized) and drummer Damon Reece (Spiritualized, Echo & the Bunnymen, Massive Attack), along with guest vocalists Helen White (Alpha), Sandra Dedrick (the Free Design) and David Schelzel (the Ocean Blue).
Vig produced iconic albums like Nirvana’s Nevermind and Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream. He told NME that he and Grillo formed the project after cementing the band name, which he likened to a “cult Michael Caine B-movie thriller from 1967 or something.” Working with Jenks, they created a series of instrumentals, which they fleshed out after recruiting “dream vocalists.”
“One of the first people that James wrote on there was Ebbot Lundberg from Soundtrack Of Our Lives,” Vig says of the Swedish “Gravity Rules” singer. “We’re huge Soundtrack fans. About four years ago when they were getting ready to break up, they did a series of shows up in Stockholm. We went up to see them. James, fueled by many glasses of vino, just bum-rushed them [and] said, ‘Hey, Butch and I have a band, and we’d like you to sing with us,’ and he just [said], ‘Ja, I would like to sing with you.’ It really was that easy. He sang on like, four songs. That happened really quickly.”
Vig says he’s also started working on “new Garbage material,” which would follow the band’s sixth LP, 2016’s Strange Little Birds. Garbage will unite with Blondie for a co-headlining tour this summer, after which the producer aims to book shows with 5 Billion in Diamonds.