As space is something that the band takes inspiration from and currently their visuals are based on the constellations and galaxies of space, I researched into different links to the band that could form an overall concept idea. I researched into the different constellations and the meanings that each of them hold. After quite a long time of searching, I found one constellation called Lyra which held a lot of relevance to the band Morpher.
Lyra
Lyra constellation lies in the northern sky. It represents the lyre, a musical instrument with strings used in antiquity and later times.
The constellation is associated with the myth of the Greek musician and poet Orpheus. It was first catalogued by the astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
Lyra contains Vega, the fifth brightest star in the sky and second brightest star in the northern hemisphere, and the famous variable star RR Lyrae. It is also home to several notable deep sky objects, including the globular cluster Messier 56, the planetary nebula Messier 57 (the Ring Nebula), the merging triplet of galaxies NGC 6745, and the open cluster NGC 6791.
Myth
Lyra represents the lyre of Orpheus, the musician and poet in Greek mythology who was killed by the Bacchantes. When he died, his lyre was thrown into a river. Zeus sent an eagle to get the lyre and placed both of them in the sky.
Orpheus was the son of the Thracian King Oeagrus and the muse Calliope. When he was young, god Apollo gave him a golden lyre and taught him to play it, and his mother taught him to write verses.
Orpheus was known for his ability to charm even stones with his music, for his attempts to save his wife Eurydice from the underworld, and for being the harpist and companion of Jason and the Argonauts.
Without Orpheus and his music, the Argonauts would not have been able to make it past the Sirens, whose song enticed sailors to come to them, which usually resulted in sailors crashing their ships into the islands on which the Sirens lived. When the Argonauts approached the islands, Orpheus drew his lyre and played music that drowned out the Sirens’ calls.
The most famous story involving Orpheus is that of the death of his wife Eurydice. Eurydice was trying to escape a satyr at her wedding, and fell into a nest of vipers. She was bitten on the heel and died. Orpheus found the body and, deeply shaken, he played songs that made the gods and the nymphs cry. The gods felt pity for him and advised him to travel to the underworld and try to retrieve Eurydice. Orpheus took their advice. Once there, his song deeply moved Hades and his wife Persephone and they agreed to return Eurydice to the world of the living on one condition: Orpheus should walk in front of her and not look back until they both had reached the upper world. Orpheus and Eurydice started walking and, as much as he wanted to, he did not look back. However, he forgot that they both had to arrive to the upper world before he could turn. As soon as he reached it, he turned around, but Eurydice was not quite up there yet and she disappeared from his sight, for good this time.
Orpheus found his death at the hands of Thracian Maenads, who ripped him to shreds for not honouring Dionysus. His lyre was carried to heaven by the Muses, who also collected the fragments of his body and buried them below Mount Olympus.
Lyra constellation was often depicted as a vulture or an eagle carrying Orpheus’ lyre in its wings or beak, and called Aquila Cadens or Vultur Cadens, which means “the falling eagle” or “falling vulture.”
Relevance
Northern sky - came together and now based in Leeds
Musician - the branding is for musicians
Brightest star - clever approach to jazz
The merging triplet of galaxies - a 'triplet' of musicians make up Morpher
Client feedback
I sent over the concept idea to the band to see if it was something that they would like to drive the visuals for their identity. The feedback was very positive and they were very keen to take this concept forward as it was something that they had not thought of before.
No comments:
Post a Comment