Taking stylistic cues from Oliver Stone and Hunter S. Thompson, Miami based musician and animator Niko Javan establishes a desert entheogenic vibe in his new music video Mental. Javan is one of those exceptional artist that can make a song and then create a set of visuals to compliment it. The concept for the video is rooted in the lyrics sung by Michele Wylen. "Mental is about being genuine, conscious and accountable for your own actions, even if everybody disagrees with you, and makes you out to be insane." Javan tells the The Creators Project. The video doesn't necessarily have an asserting narrative and is more about showing the "insane part" of Javan's imagination and being comfortable inside your own wild fantasy.
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The psychedelic animation collage was put together using a combination of Photoshop and After Effects. Javen built the layers of each composition inside Photoshop and then imported them into After Effects where he added motion and brought each landscapes to life. Javan says he made the video with the intention of capturing a psychedelic ambience a la Fear & Loathing with traces of spirituality. Sonically, he draws inspiration from low fi acts like Bassnectar and Odesza while Visually speaking, he considered the topography of Tarot Cards as well as Oliver Stone films like The Doors.
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