A Regina band is feeling starstruck after their music video was shared by skateboarding icon Tony Hawk on social media.
Gut Balloon, a punk rock side project of local group G.B. Loon and the Loonies, released a music video on October 25 for their song ‘Playing Tony Hawk’ from their EP From the Gut.
Lead singer Devon Dozlaw said the track is an ode to the early Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video games which were a part of his life growing up. Hawk, who is known as one of the most influential skateboarders of all time, is the face of the video game franchise.
“With all the interest in the remasters coming out on PlayStation 4, we decided to make a music video for the song with old actual footage of playing the games,” mentioned Dozlaw as he explained the theme of the video. “We wanted a concept around the idea that no one in the band could actually skateboard, but we wanted to make a skate video, so we just get doubles to be us.”
After the band put out the music video on YouTube, they messaged Hawk on social media about their song hoping for some sort of response from the skateboarding legend. The band figured there was a slim chance a celebrity would reply back to them – but they had hope.
On Tuesday morning, Dozlaw woke up to check his phone after receiving an unusual notification from Instagram. He was completely surprised when he found that Hawk’s verified account messaged the band back and shared the music video on his Instagram story.
“I saw that message first and I immediately was filled with extreme joy,” recalled Dozlaw. “It was pure giddiness from there on.”
Tony Hawk shared a link to Gut Balloon’s music video on his Instagram story on Nov. 3, 2020. (Image: Instagram)
Dozlaw’s phone lit up with notifications from friends and family who noticed Hawk’s shoutout to the band throughout the morning and afternoon while he was at work. He said it was a dream come true for him.
“This is insane. It was my dream that this silly love letter to the Tony Hawk games would make it to the Birdman himself,” typed Dozlaw in a social media post reacting to the news.
Needless to say, November 3, 2020 is a day Dozlaw and his bandmates will not forget for a long time.
“The guy has millions of followers and doesn’t really need to share this type of thing. It’s clearly an extra thing he decided to do I think out of the goodness of his heart.”
Hawk has 6.1 million followers on his Instagram.
The music video was filmed at a couple skateparks and other locations throughout the Queen City.
