Liquid Tryptamine brings to mind LSD, the most well known tryptamine, but even though he shared about his experience with psilocybin for Forest Hunter, Spekki Webu insists this new video “is more about transformation and changes in life and in life cycles. Changes as human beings as well.” Sci-fi inspired and dreamlike the dark video has many layers.
Spekki Webu, also known as Heliobolus shares an LP, music video and live performance all today, 29th November. The 11-track project is cryptically titled HoxV-2: Spekki Webu x Heliobolus – Phylogenetic Analysis, and marks five years of the Amniote Editions label, split between Naarm/Melbourne and Copenhagen. This album and associated event, explore the evolutionary relationships between organisms, and therefore natural interconnectedness. The musician and DJ gets b2b with Mama Snake at Post Bar, Helsinki, tonight.
The video for Liquid Tryptamine could be simplistically associated with tryptamine.The musician confided his album that comes out today has two tracks (White Room and Forest Hunter) that touch on psychedelic experiences, White Room nods to a trip during which his perception was “wiped out for the endurance of a lifecycle” and the latter "Forest Hunter delves into a recurring nightmare of being pursued in the woods. Later in life, I revisited these woods in a psilocybin session.” But more than experimenting with his own consciousness, Liquid Tryptamine looks at the links between organisms.
Liquid Tryptamine opens looking right through a droplet of something that distorts the CGI images of orbs on the forest floor to the sound of a gas mask and pattering drums, mechanics and warped uttering. Abstract, non-linear and enchanting protagonists look fish-like in the liquid environment, their motivations driven by echoing, minimalist music production. As the wordless mutters continue we circle what looks like a 3D scan of Spekki Webu in field of illustrated mushrooms, “referring to trees of life” according to the musician. Tribal drumming enters and the visuals’ pace accelerates for a second. A key transformation occurs but the soundtrack remains the same.
"The idea behind this video has multiple story lines to it for me. As I see this track as the anchor point of the album it's all about me turning into my alter ego Heliobolus which we gave an alien character that eventually turns into a lizard.” shares Spekki Webu on the piece, adding, “Diving a bit deeper into the subject it all comes together about transformation as human beings but also into some sort of energy, meaning, enlightenment and evolution. The story of the Heliobolus which is trapped in this endless which can not be broken.” He also touches on facing his fears, accepting them and to some extent becoming them as this lizard-monster creature. Evolution on a personal level talks to this wider idea of change.
Matti Vilho, the visual artist underlines, “The idea for the video really came from the themes of the album and this fascinating creature, the Heliobolus lizard. We wanted to create something surreal, where the artist transforms into this alien-like being after an encounter with this strange, otherworldly being that hatches out of an egg.” He goes on to explain the process of making, “It’s all 3D animated, and we used a combination of Blender and Unreal Engine to build the world. Motion capture played a big role too — it gave the movements a really fluid, lifelike quality while still feeling a bit eerie and otherworldly.” Overall, the visual artist concludes, “It was such a fun process, bringing this alien creature to life and playing with the textures and lighting to make everything feel vivid and psychedelic. The whole thing is really about transformation, like stepping into this dreamlike space where nothing is quite what it seems. It’s weird and trippy, but it’s meant to pull you into this strange, immersive experience, just like the music does.” They certainly capture an alien feeling.
Electronica, 90s Dutch Goa and tribal rhythms all come together on this release by Spekki Webu creating a persistent and ritualistic environment perfect to dance away your ego to.
