Cape Town band and afro-future electronica project John Wizards is back with a rework of Italian producer Populous’ “Night safari”. Populous is recognized as one of the most exciting Italian talents to emerge from the electronic music world – his aesthetic combines exotic sounds with pop music, and tribal instruments with the pitch an 808 synthesizer.
Using a prompt from the title, Illustrator Jonathan Calugi animated a music video that mimics the multi-sensorial experience of night safaris. The animator created a kingdom filled with weird and wild creatures.
The video, directed by Simone Brillarelli, features colourful and mad eyed animals dancing along to Wizards’ African dance music and electronic pop remix of Populous’ song. The illustrations are simple and childlike, but Calugi has managed to weave an unsettling and sinister darkness into the animation. The effect is hypnotic.
John Wizards usually opts for animated music videos, with Cape Town’s Sebastian Borckenhagen being the bands go to illustrator. Borckenhagen has illustrated music videos for John Wizards’ most celebrated tracks “Muizenberg” and “Lusaka by night”. The illustrator’s animations for John Wizards typically feature a wild array of playful shapes and patterns.
