MITCHELL LEONARD REVEALS THE DIGITAL ENTITY CALLED “MA1NFRAME”
AN EDM SINGLE AND ANIMATED VIDEO THAT WILL “READ US OUR WRONGS INSTEAD OF OUR RIGHTS”
OCTOBER 6TH: VISIT THE EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE HOSTED BY LAST DAY DEAF FOR “MA1NFRAME”
BROOKLYN | OCTOBER 8, 2021 – On October 8th the artist/composer Mitchell Leonard unleashes his digital entity “MA1NFRAME” as both an EDM track on all music streaming sites and as an animated music video on YouTube. The music of “MA1NFRAME” – technically classified as IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) – takes synth sounds from the new wave style of the ’80s and blends them with a contemporary house style, and a sci-fi lyrical narrative unlike any other.
Mitchell, who is known for his collaborations with cutting-edge artists to create distinctive music videos, teamed up with the visual artist/animator Qieer (pronounced “Cheer”) Wang. Mitchell immediately fell in love with her distinctive style when he saw Qieer’s work showcased at a film event during the promotional circuit for his previous music-collab video Come Downstairs.
Their collaboration on creating the “MA1NFRAME” music video came about when Mitchell discovered a short essay in one of his late brother Kerry’s notebooks. Kerry was an avid writer, and suffered from severe mental illness that kept him institutionalized throughout his adult life. He died suddenly back in 2009, when concern over his psychological state prevented him from receiving life-saving treatment for a physical condition. “When we were young, Kerry and I would create characters together. We’d give them voices, names, personalities, and these wild backstories. We really got into it.”
“I started composing around the piece, and it evolved into its own character, MA1NFRAME. They are artificial intelligence created to bring us together as a planet after so many millennia of divisiveness. Based on their programming their decision is to empower us with our weaknesses, instead of limiting us by our laws. However, as the song continues, and they describe our human experience in their quirky data-driven fashion, they start to realize that they are an outlier to our system. They have no rights, no recognition. To us, they are only a ghost. They start to fracture under the weight of the dual responsibilities of determining where their identity lies, and protecting their human creators from themselves. Ultimately, through a glitch, they reveal to the listener their final message, before the plug is pulled and they go dark forever:
YOU // HAVE // YOU.
You, as a human, have something that no other being will ever have, can ever have, that has ever come before, or will ever come again.”
Mitchell closes by admitting, “This is not just the story of MA1NFRAME. It is also the story of my brother. A brilliant and altruistic being that was confined, feared, and ultimately shut down for being misunderstood.”
ABOUT MITCHELL LEONARD:
Mitchell Leonard is a Brooklyn-based composer, conceptual artist, and producer. Past musical and video collaborations include: I Went Ahead and Did it Anyway directed by Pei Jung Wang and stop-motion claymation video Come Downstairs directed by Haisi Hu.
WHAT THE PRESS SAYS:
“The accompanying video is breathtakingly beautiful and dark; bringing the music to life in a claymation and animated world full of mysterious creatures and mirages. It explores the moment before death – examining the character’s longing, fear, and numbness.”
A “powerful, introspective work that blended animation and music together in perfect harmony”.
REVIEW AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS TO:
FOLLOW MITCHELL LEONARD:
