Kocz is the new musical project by Lovro Kocijan.
This versatile multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter presents his new single “St Cross Incident Groove” under the name 'Kocz', which also marks the first step toward a new album. Kocz is not a band, but a single musician who has taken on the role of an entire ensemble. He played all the drum, guitar, and keyboard parts himself and sang the vocals. The producer and sound engineer is Marin Hraščanec, and the whole story is rounded out with a music video directed by Dinko Šimac.
'St Cross Incident Groove' tells the story of an android being which, although by its nature shouldn't have human feelings or needs, comes to life precisely from one such spark. That unusual situation forms the basis of the song, which follows the intersection of technology and humanity through a blend of vocals, instruments, and repeating groovy phrases. - In the beginning, I didn't plan for this song to have anything to do with AI, but given that it sounds a bit 'cyber-punk', I liked the concept of something completely artificial like a robot suddenly feeling something intrinsically human - whether it's hunger, or love, or something else. What could the consequences of that be? Will the robot view this as its flaw and can it accept those feelings? - said Kocz. The music video follows the main character, embodied by Kocz, as he builds and develops his own autonomous robot. Behind the seemingly playful story lies a commentary on the uncontrolled development of technology and the neglect of its long-term consequences.
The idea and realization of the video were explained by director Dinko Šimac: - Through this video, which at first glance is playful and not too serious, we wanted to mirror the uncontrolled and uncompromising development of technology currently happening in the world. Without thinking about long-term consequences, collateral damage, and the endangerment of civilization and the planet, the imperative is to reach a new 'ceiling' in technological development. Similarly, the main character embodied by Kocz builds and develops his own autonomous robot.
The video was realized through the compositing of a 3D character onto footage from a scenographically indescribably rich workshop where props were collected over the past 3-4 decades. The robot itself was animated through my movements, a so-called 'motion capture', which I made smoother and more mechanical before applying it to the 3D model so the movements would look as 'robotic' as possible. Kocz, as the author of the music and lyrics, provided the initial idea and storyline, which we then developed together and vividly portrayed a real-world problem.
“St Cross Incident Groove” thus connects Kocz's musical concept with a visual interpretation of technological progress and its possible consequences through the story of a robot beginning to exhibit human traits.
