Founded by Arnold and Donikian in 2000, Hypnogaja originated as an electronic studio project with early collaborator, keyboardist Sean "Dr." Brooks. As a live show began to develop, members and collaborators were added to the fold, including Grammy award nominated guitarist/producer Jean-Yves "Jeeve" Ducornet. Hypnogaja's sound evolved into new dimensions with the incorporation of rock influences into the group's initial electronic foundation. The band tours consistently and has performed shows to audiences throughout the U.S. and Canada, and has opened for bands such as Shinedown, Saliva, 311, Cold and many others.
Grammy nominated songwriter Wendy Waldman helmed production duties for Hypnogaja's live acoustic album, Acoustic Sunset: Live At The Longhouse. The band previously collaborated with Waldman on two songs - "Killing Time" and "Outside, Looking In" - from the album "Post-Hypnotic Stress Disorder". The latter song was featured as the end title of the NBC Movie "Carrie" a remake of the Brian DePalma film based on the classic Stephen King novel.
Hypnogaja's latest studio recording, Truth Decay, was released by Union State Records in June 2009. The fourteen-track, science fiction-tinged concept album includes the song "Welcome To The Future," featuring Richard Dodd of The Section Quartet on cello. The album was released to strong reviews, including a 9 out of 10 star rating from Outburn Magazine, which noted it as an "expertly crafted album." The LP's first single, "The March," spawned a music video directed by ASC Award-winning cinematographer Nelson Craggand and writer/producer Marius Markevicius
Various television shows, motion pictures and soundtracks have featured Hypnogaja’s music, including America’s Next Top Model, Carrie, Cold Creek Manor, Dirt , Las Vegas, One Life To Live, Roswell, Sex And The City, Tru Calling, Valentine and many others.
Author Frank Beddor featured Hypnogaja's Alice in Wonderland-themed song, "Looking Glass" (from the Below Sunset album) on the soundtrack for the audio book version of his 2006 NY Times Best Seller, The Looking Glass Wars. In 2007, the Warner Bros. Interactive game, FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage, used the band's song "They Don't Care" (another track from Below Sunset), which was also placed - that same year - as the theme song for the Versus network's Red, White, Black and Blue Summer promo trailer. In 2008, Hypnogaja frontman, ShyBoy, co-wrote and performed two songs ("The Time Has Come" and "Shall Never Surrender") featured in the Capcom video game, The Devil May Cry 4 (the latter track appearing as the game's end title and both songs appearing on the accompanying, official Sony Music soundtrack). In 2009, Tapulous featured the Hypnogaja song "Things Will Never Be The Same" (from the Truth Decay LP) in the iPhone and iPod touch game, Tap Tap Revenge 3.
Several technology companies have featured Hypnogaja's music in noteworthy articles and promotional materials, and have invited the band to participate in events. Apple computers posted an in-depth interview and story on the band's experience in using Macs in the realms of recording, touring and promotion. AOL Music's Noisecreep property featured an interview with Hypnogaja about the concept behind Truth Decay, and offered an exclusive, free download of the song, "Worship Me (I'm On TV)." Microsoft Windows featured free downloads of two songs from Truth Decay - "Rusty Moon" and "Cellar Door" - on promotions tied to its Windows 7 release, including a slot in the January 2010 Windows Media Guide.
Hypnogaja performed at the first annual 140tc (Twitter Conference), held in Los Angeles in September 2009. In consideration of the band's success in utilizing social networking to grow its fan base (Hypnogaja has reached over one million followers on the site), keyboardist Donikian was invited to serve as one of the speakers during the conference's music panel, which also included Chamillionaire, Curt Smith of Tears for Fears and several notable music industry executives. The band rounded out 2009 with a Best Alternative Artist win at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, performing "Welcome To The Future" at the November awards ceremony. In November 2010, Arnold won the Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Male Vocal for his performance of the Donna Summer classic hit, "On the Radio," (released in January 2010 by Union State Records as the bonus track on the Hypnogaja digital 45, Welcome to the Future / On the Radio).
Hypnogaja's current lineup of Arnold, Donikian, Barnardo (member since 2004), Farrar (member since 2008) and Parker (member since 2009) performed an official showcase at SXSW '10 in Austin, TX and the group continues to tour and perform webcasts consistently. In July 2010, the band appeared on the debut episode of the web series, Stripped Down Live with Curt Smith (of Tears for Fears). On February 15, 2011, Union State Records is scheduled to release a new Hypnogaja digital EP entitled Dark Star which will contain a remix of the song "Dark Star" (featuring Slimkid3 of The Pharcyde). Later in 2011, there are plans to release Arnold's debut solo album (under the name ShyBoy) as well as plans to start recording a new Hypnogaja studio album.
Dark Star
Hypnogaja Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All along
When I looked again
It was almost gone
Fragile sky
Seemed so strong
Was it destiny
I can see your light fading
The night is contemplating
Will you shine on
Or is it too late?
Darkness casts a shadow brightly
I see the same inside me
Your reflection
Shows me my fate
Dark star
Fading faster
I feel your pain
Come closing in
'Cause what happens next
Will happen then
Scared to die
I won't pretend
More than anything
I'm afraid to meet your end
I can see your light fading
The night is contemplating
Will you shine on
Or is it too late?
Darkness casts a shadow brightly
I see the same inside me
Your reflection
Shows me my fate
Dark star
Fading faster
The lyrics in Hypnogaja's "Dark Star" speak of the fleeting nature of life and the inevitability of death. The singer of the song reflects on the fragility of the sky that seemed so strong, and wonders if destiny is behind the current situation, as something precious slips away. The main theme of the song is the fading light of a "dark star," which represents the life of someone close to the singer. The singer feels the pain of someone close closing in and is afraid to meet the end of that person. The singer can see their own reflection in that person's fading light and wonders if they too are fading.
The lyrics express the fear of loss and the fear of facing the unknown. In the chorus, the singer contemplates whether the dark star will continue to shine or if it is too late. The darkness is portrayed as casting a shadow brightly, reminding the singer of their own mortality. The chorus is a plea to the dark star to stay strong, but the inevitability of fate makes it clear that it is fading faster.
"Dark Star" is a powerful song that can be interpreted in multiple ways. It can speak to the fear of death and loss of a loved one, or it can be interpreted as an internal struggle between light and dark within oneself. The lyrics are a reminder to cherish life and not take it for granted, as it can slip away all too quickly.
Line by Line Meaning
I saw it all
I experienced everything
All along
Throughout the journey, from the beginning to the end
When I looked again
After a moment of reflection
It was almost gone
It was on the verge of fading away completely
Fragile sky
A vulnerable and delicate atmosphere
Seemed so strong
Appeared to be unbreakable
Was it destiny
Was it meant to happen
That brought this on?
That caused this situation
I can see your light fading
I can perceive your energy diminishing
The night is contemplating
The darkness is pondering its course of action
Will you shine on
Will you continue to radiate
Or is it too late?
Or has the opportunity already passed
Darkness casts a shadow brightly
The obscurity has a vivid presence
I see the same inside me
I identify with the same struggle
Your reflection
The image of yourself
Shows me my fate
Reveals my ultimate destiny
Dark star
A star that emits little to no light
Fading faster
Diminishing rapidly
I feel your pain
I empathize with your suffering
Come closing in
Drawing nearer
'Cause what happens next
Because what occurs after
Will happen then
Will transpire at that moment
Scared to die
Afraid of death
I won't pretend
I cannot feign
More than anything
Above everything else
I'm afraid to meet your end
I fear encountering your demise
Contributed by Andrew P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Dustin Gray
Found this band last summer with Lullaby. Created a Pandora station soon after, and have not regretted it. This band needs to be in the spotlight cause they have a lot of talent.
Aaron Walmsley
amazing song, amazing band. check out all there stuff guys, its all mind blowing!
adi
love it!
Holli Jackson
i freakin love this song
Thomas SHARONIARD
seriously i have discovered this band in an old Roswell episode which was fukine thrilling it was Nothing Box but this new one is so moving
Austin Gray
I was exactly the same way man. Was on Pandora last week when Cellar Door came on. Blew my mind lol
RabidREDGirl
Man this song is hard to find. I forgot the name of the band. There are like a million songs with the name dark star. I had search on pandora and look up all the songs til I found it. ^_^
Bri Lewis
thi is one'a my fav songs from dem
CoDee
nice :]
Sneyder Ereu
jajaja ta bien