Head Trip Superstar
Let's Get Medicated
Time off from making music turned out to be a good thing for Head Trip Superstar. Founder and front man Rich Varville had only recently re-tooled his dream band after a seven-year hiatus with all new members when almost immediately, good things began to happen. The first year they were back in business, the San Diego Music Awards nominated HTS for Best Hard Rock Band. Head Trip Superstar’s fresh lineup featuring Charlie Bouchonnet on guitar, bassist Paule Joubran, James Raub on drums, and Varville’s vocals and guitar made a lasting impression with their fiery new hard rock-metal core blend.
Next, Head Trip Superstar’s video for “Love You to Death” earned nominations from the 2014 San Diego Film Awards for Best Music Video, Best Editing, and Best Director. “Love You to Death” is a torrent of guitar-fueled passion wrapped around a potent song hook and a story that shows us who we hope to be, and who we hope we are not.
“I like to build a situation,” Varville says, “and then tap into the passion and the emotion of it while trying to keep it entertaining.” This would become a winning formula for Varville’s production design as the band leader emerged on the film scene as the most important new music video director in San Diego.
With their next music video for “Let’s Get Medicated,” Head Trip Superstar struck gold. “Let’s Get Medicated” won Best Music Video at the Akademia Music Awards in Los Angeles and an Award of Merit at the Indie FEST Film Festival in La Jolla. At the 2015 San Diego Film Awards, the video earned nominations for Best Music Video, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing.This time, Varville won the honors for Best Director.
“Let’s Get Medicated,” he said after the big win, “is about people who self-medicate to avoid their problems. The pretty nurse,” he says, “is representative of addiction. From there, it’s about trying to escape it.” Varville’s growl wraps that concept around a listener’s head like barbed wire while the band delivers a series of sonic knockout punches. “Let’s Get Medicated,” is now an Official Selection in the Crimson Screen Horror Film Festival and USA Film Festival, one of only thirteen festivals accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
