Run The Dungeon Patrick Kindlon

Self Defense Family soundtracking new graphic novel by vocalist Patrick Kindlon (stream a track)

In addition to fronting Self Defense Family, Drug Church, and other bands, Patrick Kindlon co-hosts the Axe To Grind podcast and he’s also co-authored some graphic novels, including We Can Never Go Home and Nobody Is In Control. He has now teamed up with artist Goran Gligovic for a new graphic novel, Run The Dungeon, which comes with a soundtrack by Self Defense Family.

“Being trapped in a scary stone labyrinth got entirely too dark and serious for me the past decade. I found myself wanting to read a proper 2nd Edition D&D style dungeon crawl. Where death is looming, but your job is to laugh in its face,” says Patrick. “Goran’s work inspired me to actually write what I’d been imagining, because he perfectly captures the energy of good-natured adventure. His art makes me feel like I’m in a basement with friends, arguing the effectiveness of the magic missile spell. Building Self Defense Family into the project came naturally as these were ideas we’d been talking about for some time while Chris expanded into composing music for TV. Run The Dungeon is the result of these two things colliding into a complete storytelling experience for me, and I think for readers as well.”

The book arrives in August via Z2 Comics, and there’s a special deluxe edition that comes with a vinyl copy of Self Defense Family’s soundtrack, limited to 500 copies. Pre-orders are available now at Z2’s website.

Along with the announcement, we’re premiering one of the songs from the album, “View From Beneath.” In contrast with SDF’s usual guitar-based post-hardcore, this is a brooding, synth-fueled song that feels closer to M83 and Beach House than to Self Defense Family, but Patrick’s unmistakable voice makes it sound like nobody else in the world. Listen below.

Meanwhile, Drug Church have a new EP arriving this month and they confirmed their fourth full-length album is on the way too.

Self Defense Family

Self Defense Family

Self Defense Family Run The Dungeon