311 — Homebrew (Bonus Music Video)

JUL 01 1993 · 12:00

311 — Homebrew (Bonus Music Video) (1993) Director: Dante Ariola (with Anthony Artiaga and Jay Papke) Era: Early Alternative Nation / Rap-Rock Emergence (1993) - Mid-Capricorn Records era; pre-breakthrough period for 311, captured during the Grassroots album cycle when the band fused rap, rock, reggae, and funk into a raw, DIY SoCal aesthetic. High curatorial value as a pre-breakthrough artifact from one of the 1990s most commercially successful genre-fusion bands, shot before major-label production budgets inflated the visual language of the format. The three-director credit (Ariola/Artiaga/Papke) and the confirmed location shooting (Sun Valley abandoned house, Masquerade Music Park) make it a traceable, historically grounded document. Ariola's subsequent DGA-winning commercial career adds retrospective significance to this early work. Context: Released during the early Capricorn Records era of 311's career, 'Homebrew' emerged from the Grassroots album (July 12, 1994) — a record recorded in the band's communal Van Nuys house with a deliberately raw, 'muddy' tone. The video predates 311's mainstream breakthrough (their 1995 self-titled triple-platinum album), capturing the band in a grassroots, underground register consistent with the early Alternative Nation moment when rap-rock and genre fusion were still subcultural propositions. The early-1990s SoCal setting, low-budget production, and performance-centric format place it squarely in the tradition of DIY alternative video-making that defined MTV's 120 Minutes and Headbangers Ball crossover programming of the period. Director notes: The Homebrew music video is among Ariola's earliest directorial credits, co-directed with Anthony Artiaga and his Pawn Shop business partner Jay Papke. Per IMDB (tt19801430), the video was released in 1994. Per 311's official Facebook, the video was filmed at an abandoned house in Sun Valley, CA and at the Masquerade Music Park. The collaboration emerged directly from Ariola and Papke's graphic design work with music clients; this video, along with their Cake clips, attracted the advertising industry's attention and catalyzed Ariola's transition into commercial directing. IMVDb also credits Ariola as director on 311's 'All Mixed Up' (1996) and 'Transistor' (2001), suggesting a sustained working relationship between Ariola and the band.