Enneagram (Official Video)

Director’s Statement:

Alex Mastoon

"Enneagram" fuses the raw energy of drum and bass with the improvisational spirit of jazz. The song - like everything on Handmade Evil - was literally improvised live by hand, triggering sounds on samplers. I kept coming back to Art Blakey, the iconic drummer, and imagined: what if he were on acid, witnessing the future of rhythms he helped pioneer? Hip-Hop producers (and therefore electronic music producers) have long sampled drummers like him, transforming the language of jazz and funk into something new, but from that same spirit. That inspired me: what if that future was perceived in real time - what if Blakey and his Jazz Messengers saw the next iteration of their own legacy? And, in dancing to these tiny moments created decades ago, how do the ravers tap into loops of the past?

The piece is chaotic and playful, weaving the awkwardness of rave culture with the equally awkward spectacle of early jazz played for all-white audiences. One genre (unintentionally) gave birth to the other, and that tension fascinated me.

With all of my work, I like to challenge people to listen with their eyes. I’m not interested in music videos that spoon-feed meaning, or convey everything the song is trying to say - I think that's lame, and boring. To me, sound and vision should speak to each other, elevate one another, and not just coexist. But it’s less about my intended narratives and more about igniting interpretation.