How did Mastodon end up scoring noted "lowbrow" pop-surrealist artist Tim Biskup to direct the video for 'Dry Bone Valley,' the latest single off their 'The Hunter' album? It turns out that not only is he a good buddy of the band's, but his artwork is highly regarded in camp Mastodon. "Tim is an old friend of ours and one of my favorite artists," says Mastodon's Brann Dailor. "The opportunity to work with him was unique and very special for us."

As for Biskup, he jumped at the opportunity to make the video, calling it a "dream project." "The band's aesthetic has always been interesting and inspiring to me and I think what I do aligns with their music," says Tim, who hasn't worked on a video project is six years. "When I pitched my idea, it was very vague — like a stream-of-consciousness poem — more than a traditional treatment. They were on board from the start."

As for his concept behind the video, it's "basically about waking up to find yourself being chased by death and having to reckon with dying and what that actually means to you," Biskup explains. "It's a life/death metaphor where the girl in the video goes from hunted to hunter. There's a whole lot more going on metaphorically, and the symbolism goes very deep and is very specific, but I'll leave the rest up to interpretation."

A good place to direct your interpretative energy is into designing a 'Dry Bone Valley' banner for a contest being held by the band and Talenthouse, a website that encourages collaborative projects between established artists and up-and-coming ones. The winner will have his/her banner featured on MastodonRocks.com for a month and receive $1,000, while two runners-up will have their art featured in the band's online photo gallery and will each get $500. Check out all the details of the contest here.

Watch the Mastodon 'Dry Bone Valley' Video

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