Valid blU worked on the debut album for three years. Join Suzen on her dramatic journey through a world shaped by sensationalist journalism and social media isolation.
See her fight against her own demons and for a little bit of success, breaking principles and breaking moral boundaries. Does your path have a happy ending?
This is exactly the story, the band tells on this album.
The album tells the story of little Suzen growing up in a media driven world.
Over time, Suzen realizes the power of the media. She is afraid to live in this world of control and oppression.
Suzen decides to switch sides and takes a job at the multimedia company WFYB.TV. She hopes for a respected position in society as well as fame, success and recognition.
For her first job, Suzen is sent to a nuclear power plant in London as a reporter.
On site, however, a nuclear catastrophe occurs, which Suzen barely survives. She realizes the corporation was just using her as cannon fodder.
She has reached the lowest point in her life: loneliness, fake news vs. facts, fake friends vs. real friends - a problem that is already a reality today. Suzen realizes that power and wealth aren't everything in life.
She saw through the system and wants to be part of the real world again. But does she manage to tear herself away from WFYB.TV?
MARVIN
One of the robots
of the WFYB.TV lab
Testimage WFYB.TV
(only used for technical adjustments)
Source: wfyb.tv media company
The album name "We Fuck Your Brain.TV", or "WFYB.TV" for short, stands for a fictitious multimedia company that uses a system controlled by artificial intelligence to influence people's thinking about TV, radio, print and social media.
This task is carried out by robots that monitor the people and can thus compile specific information about and for the people.
Maybe you'll meet the robots in the show too - keep your eyes peeled!
An important employee of the WFYB.TV group is Marvin, who appears again and again in different roles: sometimes as tour manager, PR boss or as crew chief of a broadcast team of WFYB.TV. Ultimately, he is an agent smuggled in by the media company who is supposed to keep an eye on Suzen, who transmits subjective assessments of Suzen's development to the artificial intelligence and keeps setting a few points in the background.
Probably the most cultivated form of listening to music is simply playing a record. There's nothing running on the side... You unpack the vinyl, put the disc on, brush it and put the needle on. Almost twenty minutes of pure musical enjoyment follow while the cover is studied. A fine drop refines this experience. With this image in mind, Valid blU set themselves the goal of producing their debut album explicitly for vinyl. For this purpose they have brought the Austrian Hannes Jaeckl on board as a co-producer, who has considerable experience in the vinyl sector. The big challenge in vinyl production is to move within the physical parameters of a record, but still achieve the best sound-technical result and achieve modern effects such as binaural sounds, deep bass and optimum stereo width. In short: a lot was tested and tinkered with in order to meet these ambitious goals. Ultimately, after three years of hard work, we managed to create an excellent sounding vinyl album with thirteen great songs and we don't need to hide behind the "big ones" in terms of sound.
The cover was created by graffiti artist Mathias Täger (TAEGER_ONE). All graphics were drawn and colored on an iPad.
The main motif on the cover is based on a test image, but with the colors black, red and gold - that gives you an idea of where we come from. The monster of media terror breaks out of this test pattern and wraps its tentacles around everything it can get its hands on. In order to escape the nasty looks of the media grimace, you have to press the emergency stop buzzer...
The sketchy scribbles are emotional snapshots from the individual songs. They were created while Peter and Mathias were sitting on the terrace in summer 2020. Peter, with a glass of rum in hand, told the stories about the individual songs, about the big picture and the universe, and Mathias, under the influence of one or two herbal cigarettes, swung the pen on the tablet.
Actually, the artist wanted to make the pictures even nicer, but the whole band intervened! We love these rough and maybe not so perfect drawings - they really hit the mood of the album and to improve it would rather be a deterioration.
Vinyl Cover Front
Vinyl Cover Backside
Vinyl Cover Inside
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
Scribble by Taeger_One
A look back into the youth of little Suzen. Her mother takes care of her and tries to allay her fears. She always has to check whether there are any monsters in the closet or under the bed.
Jump into the now: Suzen now knows that there are no monsters under the bed. However, the evil and sinister is in the (modern) media: in the newspapers, on the Internet, on mobile phones and on television. She is afraid that these forces could break into her soul...
But WFYB.TV is closely monitoring the situation - they have their ways and means. Now she is constantly and subconsciously suggested that all this is not bad at all.
She can live a beautiful life free of pain and heartache - she just needs to allow WFYB.TV to hook up with her and point her in the right direction...
+++ Spoken words 1 +++
When I was a little girl, I was afraid of
sleeping alone in my room.
My mommy always had to bring me to bed.
I wanted her to take a look under my bed
and in my closet to make sure
There were no ghosts or monsters
Every time she did it and reassured me that
there was nothing there,
I could sleep without any fear.
She sang me lullabies about a woman in the
moon.
That’s how she protected me from danger,
Bad people and all the evil of this world.
+++ Spoken words 2 +++
Now I’m grown up and I know that the
monsters are not in my closet
Or under the bed.
They are in our
smartphones, computers,
In the papers and on the TV…
And maybe soon they will be in my head
+++ Verse 1 +++
You lie in your bed, confused about the
things you see around you,
But be sure, nothings really, really bad
Close your eyes, feel free to dream the
sweetest dream you’ve ever had
You’re kept safe and warm – no bogeyman for
you
+++ Chorus +++
You are not alone – we’ll take care of you
We’ll keep you safe in our arms – no bad
signs for you
+++ Verse 2 +++
You love your boyfriend and he loves you
too
We’ve told him, don’t leave her, make her
dreams come true
To see the whole truth, please watch more
TV (sweet meals for your mind)
We’ll keep you informed in real-time HD
+++ Chorus +++
You’ll never be alone – we’ll clean your
mind of dirty and evil thoughts
We are the voices in your head until you’re
dead
+++ Final +++
As long as we’re allowed to reach into your
brain,
(And your thoughts and your mind)
You’ll be given the secret of a life
without pain
And what brands you must wear before trends
ebb away
(I promise)
You’ll be ok!
Suzen feels the sky closing in on her. Everywhere she is made aware of big and small things by ideologically elaborated symbols and icons. She is under mental pressure. She realizes that something is wrong with our world and she cannot see through what is behind the overall scenario. An oppressive fear overcomes her.
+++ Verse 1 +++
Paint and colors fade to grey
Living on the edge, living on the edge
Dust, smoke, bad bad signs
See them coming out of the sky
+++ Chorus +++
I have to run, follow the sun
Escape the night, toward the light
I don’t ever look back ’cause the night is
black
And they’re coming to get you
Too sick to go back
I see bad signs
+++ Verse 2 +++
Run ‘n’ run, no chance to hide
Demons are bigger tonight
Dreams of sadness in my mind
Symbols of darkness gotta fight
+++ Chorus +++
I have to run, follow the sun
Escape the night, toward the light
I don’t ever look back ’cause the night is
black
And they’re coming to get you
Too sick to go back
I see bad signs
+++ Verse 3 +++
Paint and colors fade to grey
Living on the edge, living on the edge
Dust, smoke, bad bad signs
See them coming out of the sky
Suzen realizes she is fighting windmills. She tries to find the reasons for her melancholy, fears and anger. She wonders if all humans are made equal and if bad feelings are part of our genetic code. She resigns herself to this statement and believes that knowing about it makes her life more bearable. But this condition is only short-lived and doesn't help her any further.
+++ Verse 1 +++
The walls of the room I sit in
Get closer and closer to me
I’m trapped in this dungeon of grief
With all these sad feelings and there’s no
relief
+++ Verse 2 +++
Whenever I try to break free
Something inside me is holding me back
Now I’m my own worst enemy
It’s a fight with myself nobody can see
No matter what scientists say
+++ Chorus +++
Fear is hard coded in my DNA
Fear is hard coded in my DNA
+++ Verse 3 +++
And maybe I should give up
But this little spark just refuses to die
It’s harder than I ever thought
So tell me, is there still a chance for me?
(I’m coming down)
+++ Verse 4 +++
Who knows what goes on in my mind
I have to unlock my secret some day
Can I chase away my own ghosts
Or in the end, will I go insane?
No matter what scientists say
+++ Chorus +++
Anger’s hard coded in my DNA
Anger’s hard coded in my DNA
+++ Chorus +++
Fear is hard coded in my DNA