Back when I was a kid, I remember constantly watching the music video “Land of Confusion” by Genesis on MTV. It really struck a chord in me, an amazing track and video satirizing the administration and the events of the time.
About a year ago, when I was working on the DEICER platform and found myself listening to another music track that I felt was so prescient: “Don’t Drink the Water” by the Dave Matthews Band. I’ve been a long fan of the Dave Matthews Band since college, and that song has always struck a really weird chord in me. I started thinking, what if I could create a music video in the spirit of “Land of Confusion,” satirizing our current events, but done to the “Don’t Drink the Water” track?
I had all these fantastical ideas of what could happen. I found myself fantasizing it being played behind one of Stephen Colbert’s last shows, showing everyone the growth, the grotesque reality of what we are experiencing now, but I had to put it down when I couldn’t get animators on the project. I finally sat down and drawing out concept art and ideas and styles using Rev to at least be able to see my thoughts on paper and on screen. Once that was done, I put it to motion using Seedance and edited it using Premiere.
I’ve always wished I had an artistic background, but more I wanted to be able to get this thought out of my brain and see it finally realized. I thought it was very appropriate for people to see an interpretation of what we are living through right now, much in the same way I saw it in 1986. A huge thanks to the Dave Matthews Band for the inspiration. I’m grateful to have given it a shot.