Kwoon´s CD spins a dream world
November 07, 2009
by Nick Thomas
If you think animated music videos aren´t cool, you probably haven´t caught Yannick Puig´s I lived on the Moon, yet. Blogger´s around the world are raving over this ethereal, black and white fantasy video, set to the music of new French band, Kwoon. The video had been viewed some hundreds of thousands of times, according to Puig, a French computer-graphic artist now living in Valencia, Spain (see www.yanim.net).
Puig´s curious lunar world inhabited by jellyfish, manta rays, flying snakes and three-tailed monkeys is based on the lyrics of Kwoon band leader, Sandy Lavallart, who spins a magical tale about a father teaching his son to pursue his dreams. Puig added his own touch, lifting images from a fantasy comic book he painted in the late 1990s, but also found inspiration from gothic American directors Tim Burton ("Nightmare Before Christmas") and Henry Selick ("James and the Giant Peach.")
"A lot of studios make animations, but without poetry," says Puig. Burton and Selick "have kept the soul and imagination of a child´s storybook in their work, which is what I have tried to do."
Left to battle alone on the Moon after the loss of his father, the video depicts the wee lad struggling against some powerful looking bad-guy dudes sporting bright red wizard hats who seem bent on crushing the poor kid´s dreams. Determined to realize his goals though, the boy hitches a ride on the back of a passing manta ray and escapes through an bizarre ocean/space hybrid world, out of the villains´ reaches. Naturally, it´s all symbolic.
"People with power are always trying to be better than you, steal your ideas, or use you to make themselves even bigger," says Lavallart, by email from Paris. "But they can´t steal your dreams. Dreams help you escape from a world that has become cruel and sad due to human activity."
Aside from the quirky characters and mostly grey tones that dominate the video, it´s Kwoon´s engaging music that captures the mood of "I Lived on the Moon." Writer Lavallart has created hauntingly refreshing music - somewhat akin to Iceland´s post-rock band Sigur Ros, with a touch of Mike Oldfield´s addictive rhythms. Lavallart spent a year composing and recording the music in his home studio, then put together a band with five friends to record their first album, "Tales and Dreams," and hit the Euro tour scene.
The lyrics, which are a little hard to follow at times, are available on Kwoon´s MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/kwoonmusic). But that, says Lavallart, was intentional. "A vocal can be used in two different ways - to hear clearly what it said, or to use the voice as an instrument, which is what I chose to do." He also recorded in English, rather than his native tongue, because "the frequencies of the English language are similar to the frequencies of the music, so it sounds better than in French."
Puig and Lavallart have never met, face-to-face. Lavallert contacted the videographer via email after seeing Puig´s talents in "Krapooyo" (www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEHonyNHrIk), a whimsical animated short about evolution. Puig then spent a year putting a face to the music.
"I like the softness of Kwoon´s music, and the melancholy - a ´joy to be sad,´" he says. "It´s a very powerful feeling." Since it´s release, Puig says he has heard from people all over the world praising the video, explaining how it inspired them to overcome a family problem, or just gave them goose bumps. "That´s the best gift for an artist, when the public responds."
"Tales and Dreams" is available through Kwoon´s web site, www.kwoon-music.com.
If you think animated music videos aren´t cool, you probably haven´t caught Yannick Puig´s I lived on the Moon, yet. Blogger´s around the world are raving over this ethereal, black and white fantasy video, set to the music of new French band, Kwoon. The video had been viewed some hundreds of thousands of times, according to Puig, a French computer-graphic artist now living in Valencia, Spain (see www.yanim.net).
Puig´s curious lunar world inhabited by jellyfish, manta rays, flying snakes and three-tailed monkeys is based on the lyrics of Kwoon band leader, Sandy Lavallart, who spins a magical tale about a father teaching his son to pursue his dreams. Puig added his own touch, lifting images from a fantasy comic book he painted in the late 1990s, but also found inspiration from gothic American directors Tim Burton ("Nightmare Before Christmas") and Henry Selick ("James and the Giant Peach.")
"A lot of studios make animations, but without poetry," says Puig. Burton and Selick "have kept the soul and imagination of a child´s storybook in their work, which is what I have tried to do."
Left to battle alone on the Moon after the loss of his father, the video depicts the wee lad struggling against some powerful looking bad-guy dudes sporting bright red wizard hats who seem bent on crushing the poor kid´s dreams. Determined to realize his goals though, the boy hitches a ride on the back of a passing manta ray and escapes through an bizarre ocean/space hybrid world, out of the villains´ reaches. Naturally, it´s all symbolic.
"People with power are always trying to be better than you, steal your ideas, or use you to make themselves even bigger," says Lavallart, by email from Paris. "But they can´t steal your dreams. Dreams help you escape from a world that has become cruel and sad due to human activity."
Aside from the quirky characters and mostly grey tones that dominate the video, it´s Kwoon´s engaging music that captures the mood of "I Lived on the Moon." Writer Lavallart has created hauntingly refreshing music - somewhat akin to Iceland´s post-rock band Sigur Ros, with a touch of Mike Oldfield´s addictive rhythms. Lavallart spent a year composing and recording the music in his home studio, then put together a band with five friends to record their first album, "Tales and Dreams," and hit the Euro tour scene.
The lyrics, which are a little hard to follow at times, are available on Kwoon´s MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/kwoonmusic). But that, says Lavallart, was intentional. "A vocal can be used in two different ways - to hear clearly what it said, or to use the voice as an instrument, which is what I chose to do." He also recorded in English, rather than his native tongue, because "the frequencies of the English language are similar to the frequencies of the music, so it sounds better than in French."
Puig and Lavallart have never met, face-to-face. Lavallert contacted the videographer via email after seeing Puig´s talents in "Krapooyo" (www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEHonyNHrIk), a whimsical animated short about evolution. Puig then spent a year putting a face to the music.
"I like the softness of Kwoon´s music, and the melancholy - a ´joy to be sad,´" he says. "It´s a very powerful feeling." Since it´s release, Puig says he has heard from people all over the world praising the video, explaining how it inspired them to overcome a family problem, or just gave them goose bumps. "That´s the best gift for an artist, when the public responds."
"Tales and Dreams" is available through Kwoon´s web site, www.kwoon-music.com.
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