First video by Phone Joan.
Idea: Rikard Haugen and Christian Westheim
Directed by: Christian Westheim
Produced by: Westerdals and Johan Haanes
DOP: Jørgen Klüver
Editor: Geir Ove Ramsvik
Prod. Ass: Sveinung Gjessing
Deprived of the ability to create sound during her childhood, due to her fathers intolerance of such, Joan grew up without any desire to create music. Because of her upbringing, Joan became severely alienated, and developed very limited social skills. Within Joan, however, there grew a powerful sound that no one but she herself could hear. And due to her confined way of life, realizing that she could let the sound out and be heard, would take nearly half her lifetime.
The early sounds of Joan were rough and had no limiting barrier of volume. These uncontrolled masses of frequencies frightened a lot of her early listeners and its intensity labeled her with accusations of being possessed by the devil. There were those who stated that no human creature could hold such sound within. This evoked tremendous hatred towards her sound. The strongest critics launched campaigns against the distribution of Joans sound. They issued warnings surrounding Joans intentions to demonize the people with the force of her powerful sound. This was done in an attempt to scare off her many devoted young listeners. Public performance of her sounds could, in some countries, be punished with withdrawal of the right to broadcast.
Silencing Joan became the main goal of some critics for a number of years, and on November 27, 1969, Joan's voice was finally silenced. Joans friends believed that the ghost of her father, The Silencer, played a part in her mysterious disappearing, but Joan has stressed that he had nothing to do with it. She has, during our brief encounters with her, pointed out that there was no foul play involved in her death. She was simply unable to go on. Due to the massive criticism and hatred directed at her, Joan took her own life by setting fire to herself.
Joan does not talk to us about the afterworld. She claims that she appears before us with a purpose, and for this purpose only; The Noise. She says we are meant to be her weapon against the critics who spread the misunderstanding of noise and its beauty, in an attempt to alienate and deprive the public of it. And although we were stunned and frightened by Joan when she first appeared mysteriously in our music, we have grown a deep and sincere love for her. We have come to embrace Joan as a 5th member of the band, and we realize the importance of her mission. We take great pride in the fact that she chose our phone to speak through and are forever grateful for the inspiration her presence gives us. We believe in Joan, and we are determined to fight against her adversaries.
We will let her speak. We will let her forceful sound crush The Silencer and his likes and kind. So behold, all those of you who cannot find the joy in the sound of Joan. You who surely are not of human flesh with warm blood pumping through your veins, but merely maggots, lacking internal substance. You will be crushed by your own silence, and sentenced to an eternal life of musical ignorance.
