As you know, my video work has gotten very popular as of late. So much so, that sometimes I find myself spending more time deciding what to work to take on, than actually working on anything in particular! To be or not be for sure.
But recently I was presented with a rare opportunity that required little consideration. My good friend Ben Gallina, a fantastic bass player, and, as it turns out, a fantastic composer, came to me and said, “Ryan, my band Salo has just completed recording a new album of my music, and I would love for you to make a video animation for one of the tracks.” So I said, “Sure, Ben. I think I can do that.”
Once we arranged my modest but not insubstantial fee, Ben decided that he wanted a video for his track, “Metamorphistopheles”. To be honest, I only have a vague idea what this title means. I can assume that something is changing into something else. And maybe the devil is involved. But I’m not really sure. What I do know is that the music totally rocks, even though Salo is a “jazz” band. I like to think of it as Ben’s own brand of “acid jazz” – blending jazz instrumentality and sensibility with prog-rock-funk rhythms and harmonies.
Now, normally when I embark on such an ambitious project as this, I like to have some parameters to work within. As Igor Stravinsky once said, “The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution.” In this case I was not as fortunate as Stravinsky. Ben said something like, “Hey man, do whatever you want. I don’t really care. I trust you.”
So I went deep into my wellspring of creativity and pulled out one of my most natural resources – balls. Lots and lots of balls. Very colorful balls. Spinning and turning and flying and bouncing and dancing and just otherwise carrying on. But that’s not all. There’s a whole fantasy land of adventure waiting for you this at once captivating and spellbinding episode of music turned into motion. The musicians are incredible and the music is hot, and the video is here:
Credits: Alex Hamlin, Ed RosenBerg, Josh Rutner, Red Wierenga, Andrew Smiley, Ben Gallina, Alex Wyatt. Written by Ben Gallina. Animation by Ryan Dorin. Solos Alex Wyatt – drums, Alex Hamlin – alto sax.