mind.in.a.box
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| mind.in.a.box | |
|---|---|
| Origin |  Vienna, Austria |
| Genre(s) | Futurepop Progressive Trance |
| Years active | 2002 – present |
| Label(s) | Dependent Records Metropolis Records |
| Website | mindinabox.com |
| Members | |
| Stefan Poiss Markus Hadwiger |
|
mind.in.a.box is Austrian electronic music duo Stefan Poiss (music) and Markus Hadwiger (lyrics). Their "technopop" sound can be described as a cross between futurepop, progressive trance and cyberpunk.
Contents |
[edit] Band history
Stefan Poiss and Markus Hadwiger were childhood friends in their native Austria. Over the course of their adult lives, they had collaborated on creating a number of computer games. In 2000, Poiss had decided to create a music album. With Poiss writing the music and performing the vocals and Hadwiger providing the lyrics, mind.in.a.box' debut album Lost Alone was completed in 2001. After approaching Dependent Records, the album spent another year being tweaked and marketed before it was finally released in 2002. Lost Alone was an immediate success and soared to the number one spot in the German Alternative Charts where it would stay for five consecutive weeks. [1][2]
[edit] The Story
Their songs feature monologues, snippets of audio logs and conversations that combine to tell a story that spans their albums. Together, they form a mysterious epic that draws on science fiction, fantasy and noir fiction.
[edit] Chapter 1: Lost Alone
Waiting: This is a series of phone calls, in which Mr. Black talks to someone (presumably White) of a man that he has attached a trace to. Black is spying on Him. The man is concerned about a woman and is trying to get into contact with Her. Just before he is able to get ahold of the woman, Black calls his contact and agrees to take some sort of action against Him that will leave Him unable to escape and not interrupt the trace.
Forever Gone: Another series of phone calls between Black and someone (again, most likely White). Black has lost Him. The trace on the man has been broken and Black has no idea where he has gone. The Speaker tracks Him through a scrap of paper with an address to a bar. When Black arrives at the bar, he finds Him. The man's body is lifeless and has all of his (unspecified) "gear" with it, although all the data on his gear has been erased. The Speaker comes to the conclusion that the man must have "switched over" to "the other side".
[edit] Chapter 2: Dreamweb
Tape Evidence: Black says that he's been constantly dreaming and that even reality appeared dream-like. He was briefly snapped out of his dreaming by a door bell. When he went to answer the door, he found an audio tape.
Dead End: Black is talking with White over a radio. White's side of the conversation cannot be heard. He is surveiling a club, trying to find Her. He loses his patience and goes inside. He finds the woman and is instantly assaulted by his dreams. He runs through hallways and down stairs trying to get away from the music. The music rises in intensity and the woman is still in front of him. He continues fleeing to escape the music and when he bursts through a door, he finds himself back in the club before he passes out.
Reflections: An audio log sums up the search for Her. After Black wakes up in the gutter, he does not understand what happened to him and cannot contact White over his radio. He finds White who has gotten a tape from a man at the club. He goes home and still hears the music before falling asleep.
[edit] Chapter 3: Crossroads
Introspection: Black awakens in a tank of water, with Night and The Friend watching him from outside. They break the glass and free him. He wakes up in an apartment with the knowledge that someone known as the Sleepwalkers helped him and that the events in the past two chapters were misleading; that White is not his friend and was actually trying to erase his identity.
Amnesia: Reeling from the realization that his partnership with White was a lie, Black realizes that he doesn't know who he is and is suffering from amnesia.
Into the Night: Snippets of Black's side of conversations detail his investigations into what really happened in the club in Chapter 2. He discovers that his name is Black and finds a clue pointing him to the Sleepwalkers.
[edit] The Cast
Black: Black is the point of view that the story is told from. It's unknown what his motives are and until Crossroads even his name was a mystery. He is working for White, doing mostly surveillance. He seems to be some sort of a government or corporate agent, with little qualms about killing.
White: White is Black's direct supervisor. White is the only member of the story who has been named. While he had been assuming a sort of controller role in Lost Alone, he makes a physical appearance in Reflections, making it clear that White is comfortable with field work.
Him: The unnamed man, who is the target of investigation in Lost Alone, is only referred to by male pronouns. It is implied that he is some sort of a hacker, possibly even a decker or cyber-cowboy. At the end of Lost Alone his body is dead, although it is strongly believed that his mind still lives and he has transferred his consciousness into the Internet.
Her: The unnamed woman, who is the target of investigation in Dreamweb, is only referred to by female pronouns. She seems to have had some sort of relationship with Him. It is revealed that she "knows to get there", suggesting that she knows what happened to Him and how to replicate it. At the end of Dreamweb, she has escaped surveillance and has triggered something in The Speaker's mind.
[edit] Discography
[edit] EP
- Certainty Metropolis Records (2005)
- What Used To Be Metropolis Records (2007)
[edit] LP
- Lost Alone Dependent Records (2002) / Metropolis Records (2004)
- Dreamweb Dependant Records / Metropolis Records (2005)
- Crossroads Dependant Records / Metropolis Records (2007)[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Interview with Side-Line magazine
- ^ http://www.movementmagazine.com/0105/music_0105.htm Interview with Movement Magazine
- ^ http://www.mindinabox.com/moments/main.php mind.in.a.box's news page
