Hellyeah, the band featuring former members of Mudvayne and Pantera, has just released the official video for their new single “Hush” and it features the acting debut of none other than my own 12-year-old son Jesse Bergen. That’s right… that is my gorgeous boy playing a teenage version of Hellyeah singer Chad Gray in the video.

“Hush” is a song about the domestic violence that Gray faced at home as a child and features the chorus “Hell’s where I was born/Hell’s where I was raised/This hell is where I’m from/And this hell is where I’ll stay.” The band has lent use of the song to the No More organization, which works to raise awareness about sexual assault and domestic abuse.

The official video for “Hush” addresses the issue of domestic violence through flashbacks to Gray’s younger years and the scenes that played out around his own situation. It’s pretty heavy stuff! Check it out here below.

As for how my son ended up being in the video, it’s one of those “Only in L.A.” things. As I mentioned in a previous post somewhere, Jesse is in a band with the son of Mike Salomon, an acclaimed director who has directed countless videos including Metallica’s groundbreaking “One” video. Both of the boys also attend School of Rock in L.A. and during a SOR show last year, we had the privilege of meeting a family friend of the Salomon’s, another highly acclaimed director named Robert Sexton. My wife and I noticed that Robert’s wife was wearing an amazing pair of Kiss leggings and we struck up a conversation around our love of the band. Robert told us how impressed he was with Jesse’s talent as a performer and we, of course, gushed with pride. We would see Robert a few more times at the boys’ gigs over the next several months. Then, one day Mike Salomon’s wife Jan called us up and said, “What color are Jesse’s eyes? Robert wants to use him in a video!” Well, apparently blue was the correct answer because a couple of weeks later, Jesse and I were on set in a seedy warehouse along the edge of L.A.’s Metro rail yard, meeting Hellyeah and having a blast filming this clip and watching Robert Sexton work his magic. The guys from the band were super cool to us and Jesse had a blast and learned so much that day. Overall, a very awesome and surreal experience.

Fun though it was, the underlying subject matter of the song and video is still very serious. If you or anyone you know is the victim of sexual assault or domestic abuse, we at Geeks of Doom urge you to speak up; tell a teacher, a cop, a counselor… anyone who will listen. You can also visit NoMore.org for more information and resources. As the song says: “If this reminds you of home, you better know you’re not alone.”

“Hush” is taken from Hellyeah’s latest album, Blood For Blood, which is available worldwide via Eleven Seven Music.

Video