Egomunk – ‘MyTV’: Interview

egomunk is a music artist who has decided to remain anonymous, a decision made through a desire to have the public download his music because they like it rather than the person behind it. egomunk has so far accumulated over 300,000 free downloads from his website where he gives his music away for free as he doesn’t believe in the restrictions of record labels. With a strong underground following he connects with the fans through social media and frequently hosting competitions for his fans to create videos for him. egomunk has just released the latest of these videos for the track ‘MyTV’.

The track comes from the album ‘Footsteps to Mars’ which will be made available via egomunk.com; there will be no rigid release of singles or music videos as egomunk does not believe that there should be a machine dictating the order in which we consume music and creativity. Via the egomunk website the listener is given the choice – they listen to which track they want to hear; they pay what they way to pay, if at all, and they can see egomunk as they wish to see it.

EgoView™ is an integral piece of the egomunk jigsaw-allowing listeners to be transported by different visual-video interpretations of each album track, via a library of video submissions – or indeed should they wish, they are free to upload their personal video graphical account of a particular track via EgoView™; a total disregard for the barriers of control and restriction usually enforced by record labels. Does a self-made and constructed digital reflection really show our true selves?

egomunk is offering a creativity in the rawest and most honest form; an album lead by the music as opposed to apperception of the artist and a free and unrestricted access to the music for all that want to enjoy, deconstruct, criticise, engage and react with it.

We spoke to the director of egomunk’s latest video for the track ‘My TV’ and egomunk himself about the video, inspirations, and the reasons for remaining anonymous.

Director

Can you tell us about the video for MyTV?

The inspiration for the video came from the music itself. The song is deceptively simple and at first listen innocent. However, there is a slightly ominous undertone to it which reminded me of a Tim Burton movie. A stop-frame animated character seemed to fit the atmosphere of the track so work began on building a character that would suit. Attempts at a practical puppet failed so I began looking for alternative ways of putting it together. The idea was to try and make the character look like it was built with real materials and for the animation to resemble traditional stop motion animation.

Can you tell us about the process of making the video?

So in keeping with the spirit of the egomunk project the video was created using the open source animation software Blender. An amazing piece of software that has been created by volunteers from around the world. The Blender community also features an online 3d model sharing platform called BlendSwap from where a number of the elements used in the video were sourced. The video is therefore the result of a collaboration with a number of talented individuals.

What’s been the most challenging aspect of making the video?

I wanted the video to touch on a theme that appears throughout the egomunk album; control, consumerism and the restrictions of a conformed society. Getting this concept across using animation was the most challenging aspect of the video but I am proud of the final cut as I think the message is clear.

What was the working relationship like with egomunk when making the video

I absolutely love the Footsteps to Mars album so it is an honour to be a part of the collective. Working with egomunk is exciting, there is always something new being thrown about – how we can develop ideas, concepts, releases. I did the Sea Snow video with egomunk which, as fans will know, has a totally different feel to this new video.

Egomunk

What was your over-arching artistic vision for this video, through into the rest of the album?

I am enjoying playing on the idea of the unknown, ‘faceless characters’ and mystery. This mirrors the anonymity of myself. It’s important for people to see that beyond the videos of sex and drugs from current ‘popstars’ there is always an underlying message. I wanted to take out the superficial element and leave it as raw as possible to let the viewers create their own perception of the video.

Why have you decided to remain anonymous when releasing the album?

We live in a society where people are fascinated by celebrities; what they do and where they go. Sometimes I feel album sales and show tickets are now becoming more about obsession rather than the appreciation of music. I have decided to stay anonymous because I want my music to speak for itself rather than the person behind it.

Is this non-traditional way of releasing your music and having fans pay (if at all) the way you foresee more people doing so in the future of the industry?

I’m not against artists being paid for their music, it is an art and, in some cases, a lot of time, effort and pride goes into the work. I think it’s personal choice, I didn’t want to be restricted in any way which Is why I chose to release my music this way. Fans have a choice, they can pay for all, or part of the album if they chose but in essence all I ask Is for people to enjoy the ride with me.

Is it vital that the industry changes the way music is released and sold in digital environments that are fast moving and ever evolving?

Of course we have to evolve with the ever changing industry. I think it is important that we try various avenues though to find the best possible solution to keep the music industry afloat.