In today's world information seems to be constantly bombarding us. We find ourselves glued to our phones barely taking a moment to look up. The people around us, their stories, our moods and even our own lives all seem to flash by in an instant. This is where the importance of individual attention comes into play - it holds great value and even can be exchanged for money as it runs our economy and society. However, amidst this battle for attention where does one's personality disappear? - Bence Kocsis (OIEE) poses this question in his latest music video. Rather than attempting to find the truth on his own, he involved a community of visual artists, dancers, sculptors, animators and VJs to collectively seek the answer.
‘Off Beat Echo’ is the latest single by OIEE - Bence Kocsis’ solo electronic music project. The track is part of hisupcoming album ‘Two Sides’ which is set for release this April. The music production involved the collaboration of Steve Dub - Grammy Award-winning sound engineer of Chemical Brothers. The song revolves around the idea of the internal struggle we face when trying to conform to societal and environmental expectations and how in this fast-paced, media-driven world everyone is just trying to find something still soothing.
In the video directed by the singer-songwriter he makes his own dark vision with co-creators come to life: Bence Kocsis sings in a white kimono and glasses designed to prevent snow blindness, narrowing the field of vision as he has to defend himself against the total flow of stimuli that destroys the individual. The black space is filled with a visionary world and flickering projections of internal processes.
‘The continuous stimuli made me almost imperceptibly addicted. I tried to take back control in ‘Off Beat Echo’ as well as in the music video, because I noticed that it determined my everyday life,’ said Bence Kocsis about the concept. ‘Asong or video is always a public statement, even if it’s about trying to find answers to my most personal questions as a creative community.’
Bence Kocsis graduated from MOME where he studied Design and Art Management and has always been interested in cross-genre collaborations. The production of the ‘Off Beat Echo’ video was a reflection on the theme of the track with MOME students and artists coming from different fields which is also their generational experience. In the futuristic video the digital world that destroys personal and social life is depicted with analog solutions: everything from projections to hologram projection was recorded at MOME.
‘Off Beat Echo’ can be heard live for the first time at the album launch show at Turbina (Budapest, HU) on April 2022.
The creative team of the Off Beat Echo video clip:
Bence Kocsis (OIEE) - Director, Art Director and Producer, Music (MOME)
Gábor Karcis - Mapping, projection (MOME)
Sándor Körei - sculptor (MKE)
Nóra Barna - dancer, media design student (MOME)
Nikola Mrkobrad - designer (MOME)
Blanka Kicsák - art management (MOME)
Péter Kiss - cinematographer, editor
Tamás Cseke - photo (MOME)
Dániel Székács - Mapping, projection (MOME)
Benjámin Kalászi - animation (MOME)
Ádám Wator - animation (MOME)
Emese Pálovics - animation (MOME)
Source: Press material