Prism Tats says his new video is about "the story of an infamous Hollywood Indie casualty"

The South Africa-born, US-based rocker (née Garett van der Spek) makes a raucous mess of lo-fi garage and spidery rock'n'roll. On "Midnight Mountain", he shows off his alter-ego: "I'm playing the character of Gary V, a self-proclaimed superstar and locally infamous Hollywood casualty."

The single's taken from van der Spek's self-titled debut record, which is out now via ANTI- (Tom Waits, Wilco).

Read our chat with Prism Tats below, and then watch the video at the bottom of the page.

Could you tell us about Prism Tats?

Why yes! Prism Tats is a solo project that sprung out of my curiosity to perform and record as a one man band with a drum machine. Those early recordings turned into this album and the live performance turned into a three piece, adding a drummer and bass player.

How does South Africa's musical culture compare to the USA's? Are they different or similar?

It's difficult to compare with the music in the US just because of its geographical size. South Africa is a much smaller, diverse, fragmented industry still developing its identity. The market in South Africa has not been able to support live music every night in multiple venues in every city across the country the way the US can. Although because of its diversity and size there is a lot of cross-pollination and sharing of ideas and styles that are starting to produce some exciting sounds and accelerate the development of the industry as a whole.

What did you listen to growing up?

Pretty standard stuff. The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Radiohead, Blur, Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Pixies...

What was the first record you bought? What was the most recent?

First: Oasis' (What's The Story) Morning Glory? Most recent: Cate Le Bon's Crab Day

What would you be doing if you weren't making music?

Delivering pizza.

How did you write/record "Midnight Mountain"?

It started out as a strange trashy Prince-inspired pop song that is, I'm betting, difficult for me to hear now. Then one day I just started singing it at a different tempo and it worked. Went home and quickly recorded it and that's the version that made it onto the record.

What's it about? How does the video relate to that?

It's about erasing your history and leaping into the future. We didn't set out to make a video that would relate to the lyrical content but in a strange way it kind of does. The concept for the video coincided with my move to Los Angeles and tells the story of me embracing my alter ego, Gary V, and making all the wrong decisions and becoming a Hollywood Indie Rock casualty. It's entertaining.

Could you tell us a bit about the video?

It was directed by Brian Quist and shot over two days in L.A.. I got to be Gary V for a weekend and it was weirdly fun. The amazing '90s Mustang belonged to a friend Joe who has subsequently sold it, but he rests assured that it was immortalized in this video.

What's your favourite music video?

Daft Punk's "Around The World" and Michael Jackson's "Thriller" are two that spring to mind. I sense a choreographed dance video in my future.

Do you have many plans for summer?

Aside from choreographing a dance video, a lot of touring.

What's next for Prism Tats?

Keep working, touring and releasing as much music as possible.

Watch the video for "Midnight Mountain" below.