Sonarpilot, earth name Michael Moppert, is an electronic musician and producer who works and lives in Switzerland and France. Since the space travel heyday of the 1970s Michael has been drawn to envelope-pushers, risk-takers and boundary-exploders, ranging from Rock iconoclasts like Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Roxy Music to electronic pioneers like Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, and Brian Eno as well as innovative classical artists such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, or John Cage. What began with a guitar, a 4-track, a battered drum machine and a single analog synth in the early 80’s soon morphed into a fully-operational recording studio. His musical output went from electronic-inflected New Wave to increasingly technoid, ambient and experimental music. At the tail end of the 00’s Michael opened a new chapter, with a new name, Sonarpilot, and his own label. Together with London-based producer and label manager Jonny Miller Michael released a growing catalogue of albums and EP’s, ranging from leftfield electronica to club-oriented deep house, working with underground electronic artists in the UK, North America and South Africa. In 2020 Michael is back with a new mission, his most ambitious ever: The Mirage Project. 

About “The Mirage Project”

The Mirage Project is a collection of six stunning and unique fractal films with bespoke electronic soundtracks, appearing monthly online from May to December – one hour of other-worldly visuals and a soundtrack that reflects the essence of Sonarpilot’s wide musical background. “Fossil” is the second audio/visual piece to be released, coming one month after “City In The Sky” ushered in this sonic sci-fi opus.

About “Fossil”

The year is 2020. A 2020 spun from another timeline. A year spent gazing outward, not withdrawing inward. Humanity watches transfixed as Deep Space Mission Probe “Mirage 2” does a breathtaking fly-by maneuver on an interstellar object that has entered our Solar System, the first of its kind in recorded history. “Fossil” provides a 10-and-a-half minute soundtrack that matches perfectly. Synths flare and skitter across a pulsing, ambient beat, like the heat and light signature of a far-off star. Sonarpilot takes his time building the sound of the strange, hypnotically beautiful parallel universe from which this object originated. The chips and circuits of electronic instruments are utilized here to reveal undiscovered forms of life that may be alien, but sound and feel incredibly human. 

About the “Fossil” video

Sonarpilot created each of the videos and their soundtrack in cooperation with film producer Roger Mäder. “We were using software that generates highly complex fractals. Some of the formulas took a week to render one minute of video,” Roger explains. Once he generated the raw visual material for each song’s world, Michael would edit the footage and, at the same time, write the music. The results are extraordinary. In “Fossil,” shimmering skeletal arches and caverns repeat and repeat, networking in endless geometric patterns like an HR Giger panorama. Like all great sci-fi, the power of the video lies in the suggestions it makes with its eerily organic architecture. Everyone will arrive at their own conclusions as to what they’re witnessing — and that’s the point.

The soundtrack and video that launched the story of The Mirage Project, “City In The Sky” is an awe-inspiring introduction to the epic series, another perfectly matched immersive experience. The icy synths and vocal fragments ascend and bubble ever upward through a layer of reverb, along to the muted thump of the beat. It commands the eyes to look up, at the video’s Cubist crystalline cityscapes, unfolding and blossoming infinitely in the stratosphere. As breathtaking as it is, it’s meant to be a mirage about the impermanence of even the most technologically advanced societies and their material achievements. These skyscapes mimic Earth’s urban constructions, but here gravity is optional, and beauty is not. It’s something the Borg might travel in, if they were better neighbors. The soundtrack itself is a journey, every measure and modulation guiding the listener deeper into the narrative and the world Sonarpilot has created out of thin air.

We are super excited to be working with Sonarpilot to help share the word about the “Fossil” and “City In The Sky” music videos! Please let us know what we can do to secure a spot for it in your regular programming and online presentations, or if you’d like us to send some Sonarpilot merch for on-air contests and online giveaways. For more info, call Andy Gesner and the HIP Video Promo team at 732-613-1779 or email info@HIPVideoPromo.com, or check out TheMirageProject.com.