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.
Silver Star
Hypnogaja Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To go and protect it blindly
All of your life is depending
On who and what you're defending
Move in for the kill, 'til they finally get their fill
Raised to believe all the hatred
Trust in yourself to follow
The lies just get harder to swallow
Move in for the kill, 'til they finally get their fill
Lay down your life
For what you are
Live the sacrifice
For a silver star
Die with the best of intentions
Led to the end by perception
All of our lives are depending
On who and what we're defending
Lay down your life
For what you are
Live the sacrifice
For a silver star
Lay down your life
You've come this far
Sacrifice, trade your life
For a silver star
For a silver star
The opening lines of “Silver Star” by Hypnogaja talk about being born into a world of freedom and being reminded to protect it blindly. The song then continues with the idea of defending what you believe in, even if it costs you your life. The chorus “Lay down your life, for what you are, live the sacrifice, for a silver star,” emphasizes this idea of sacrifice and defending what you believe in to the point of death. The lyrics suggest living for something beyond oneself, and that one's life depends on who and what they're defending. The song speaks to the idea of patriotism and the will to die for a cause.
The second half of the song talks about being raised to hate and the loss of innocence. Despite this, the song tells the listener to trust themselves and not to follow the lies that are harder to swallow. The song concludes with the repetition of the chorus and the idea that all of our lives depend on who and what we're defending.
Overall, “Silver Star” conveys the idea that people are willing to fight for their beliefs and their country, even if it means sacrificing their own lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Born into freedom, they remind me
Being born in a free world, it is our responsibility to defend and protect that freedom.
To go and protect it blindly
We need to defend our freedom without any doubts, even if we don't know the real reason behind it.
All of your life is depending
Our entire life is connected to whom we are defending and for what purpose.
On who and what you're defending
It is critical to know the reason behind who and what we are defending, as our actions are driven by that purpose.
Move in for the kill, 'til they finally get their fill
Keep going and never give up on protecting your freedom, until the opposition has had enough and gives in.
Raised to believe all the hatred
We are often raised to accept all the negative energy, hatred and animosity, rather than understanding and empathy.
While all of the innocence faded
In the midst of all these negative emotions, our innocence disappears, leading to a lack of faith in humanity.
Trust in yourself to follow
Have faith within yourself while following your values, rather than blindly following the beliefs of others.
The lies just get harder to swallow
Over time, it becomes increasingly challenging to accept the lies we've been fed, and it becomes our responsibility to seek the truth.
Lay down your life
To defend our freedom, we need to be willing to make any sacrifice, even if it means risking our lives.
For what you are
The goal of such a sacrifice should align with our beliefs and values; it should resonate within us cause it's who we are.
Live the sacrifice
The sacrifice that we make should constantly motivate us to use our lives in a way that is consistent with our beliefs.
For a silver star
The ultimate outcome of the sacrifice should not only be personal fulfillment but also be for higher ideals that we must strive for which can materialize in form of respect or honor shown towards us by others.
Die with the best of intentions
We should live our life striving towards noble goals and high ideals, so that when we die, we're remembered as those who lived with purpose and integrity.
Led to the end by perception
We are often led astray by our perception of things, and it's important to recognize that our perceptions can be flawed.
All of our lives are depending
Everything we do in our lives, the choices we make, depends on who and what we are defending: our values, beliefs or even a higher purpose.
On who and what we're defending
Defending a cause or ideal deterministically impact the quality of life we lead, how we choose to lead it, and ultimately who we become as a person.
You've come this far
Having gone through the struggle of life, we have reached this point where we can either give up or continue to march forth.
Sacrifice, trade your life
To defend our freedom and to achieve great things in life, we need to be willing to make significant sacrifices, even trading our lives if necessary.
For a silver star
As a result of our sacrifice, we may attain success, respect, or honor, by which we are remembered and celebrated in society. This is the silver star one may pursue.
Contributed by Jayce C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
aj lee
Прекрасный трек 💗
Александр Кислицын
Очень не мейнстримный и недооценённый
Timur Kurskiev
Цыц!
Егор NoLighter
Да, крутой
Artyrian Tyler
Так є
Toska
10 yıldır dinlerim, bi 10 yıl daha dinleyeceğim bu gidişle
TheMonsterHuggers
I wish I could of saw them in concert
hypnoticfire bee
I have and they are awesome
Alex Jones
I found you guys by accident...and fell in love with the music. On my favorites list now.
Nevermore
Same!