Research through kele / bloc party

Kele Okereke

Kele Okereke was born in Liverpool to Catholic Igbo Nigerian parents. His mother was a midwife, and his father a molecular biologist. He grew up in London with his one sister. As a child, he went to school at Ilford County High School (where he was known as Rowly), but switched to Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green for sixth form at age 16. He lived in Bethnal Green, and in 1998 he became friends with a student of nearby Bancroft's School, Russell Lissack, who would become his band's guitarist.

A year later, while studying at King's College London, Okereke met Lissack again at Reading Festival, where the band was officially formed under the title of The Angel Range. In 2001, Okereke moved out of his parents' home. He went on to meet Gordon Moakes and Matt Tong who became the band's permanent bass guitarist and drummer, respectively.

In 2003, the band changed its name to Bloc Party after briefly being called Union.

The reason why I've researched this person is because I targeted his songs and referred them towards my what i wanted to gain and then use one of his song is his other band 'kele' with this research it just shows and links to evidence within backing up my influenced on an artist.

Also with the under-lined words above I can research into them as well and find resources that could be useful to me aswel.

This is very weak research but it will help if need to fall back upon things they may occur through my journey.

Bloc Party -

Bloc party is another band that kele is the lead vocalist and team leader of this band as well. I was quite interested in this as some of bloc party songs are indie typed things such as skeleton and helicopter. But looking at 'flux' and also 'mercury' and 'one month off' I can see that he is trying to covert indie into kind of a trance beat, which I found interesting.

Also looking at these video and the animation it gives me more ideas such as animation, it can describe the emotion of movement and gives and makes the mood more creative and unique. Also I think looking through these video it covers a wider fan range as in the older range of 'old school' such as the super heroes in flux and also little red riding hood in one month off, it influences people through past thing that they reconsigned (andy).

Looking at this video it has an impactive intro so he starts of all sweet and nice and then the tank shows the twist of the mood showing more dominance in the song asking it appealing and powerful powerful and explosive. So looking at it in music video perspective I could add maybe an icon / comparisons such as this and try and make an affect.

The animation is in 3d and the mise en scene is bright and straight reminds me of a recent event, also the characters are made out clay, bloc party may of used this in the video for things such as make believe and also bringing the message across in a different way, or it was the easiest and best way to. Also it makes the animation more affective to it's audience and goes with the beat through jerky movement maybe because of the fast pase of tempo and also a hint of quirky vibes.

Also looking through research of Bloc Party progression and performance of success they have reached mainstream but not proper mainstream, for e.g. In 2005, Bloc Party released their first studio album, titled Silent Alarm. The album reached number three in the UK charts, and propelled the band to fame. Despite this, Okereke continued to study English literature at university. Until the release of Silent Alarm, he had kept his musical activities secret from his parents, maybe a surprise or generic links?

So they made it in the album charts but not reaching the number one of even top ten which in these days has a major impact. As if an album hits number one it hits the news and maybe newspapers and magazine and definite in the itunes channel for advertisements and also different purposes such as a 'break through album' or 'runner up for Brits or MTV rewards' so bloc partys work to get known but not known enough.

This changes the whole fan base rating and keeps it in a sustained and controlled populism base, which then Kele at live gigs. How this helps me it make an unique a but things which could mediate me to an controlled video. Meaning that have an easy narrative and mediates all resources into one sector. The group that I'm aiming for it mainly the fact I need to be careful in which I present. (aged 15 and over).

Another example for progression of performance and targets is this;

The band released their second album A Weekend in the City on 5 February 2007 in the UK and 6 February in the US. The album debuted at #12 in the Billboard 200 with 48,000 copies sold, and reached the #2 spot in the Official UK Chart.

Another example which gives me a more of a clear estimate of what to make my music like and also the music track i'm thinking of. Looking through this research I want a music video that has a catchy beat that people remember and also a strong meaning that can link to the music in the best possible way.

Personal Life:

What I wanted to look at here is that if I could find elements of expressions and emotions from the artist himself and that I can take these and use them in body language and facial expressions within the cast in my music video. Through research i found this;

Kele Okereke is extremely shy;
The reason why i no this is that he has expressed disdain for interviews, asking one interviewer from Skyscraper magazine, "Why is it important to know what I had for breakfast? Or who I went to bed with? Or what sneakers I am wearing? If it's relevant to understanding my music, then so be it. But if it's purely to satisfy the media's obsession with celebrity, then no thanks. I don't want to play that game."

So from this quote I can already see that he is focused on his music and not anything thats non irrelevant. He is quite a determined artist.

Also i found this aswel;

In March 2010 Okereke came out as gay in a butt magazine article, he then gave an interview and appeared on the front cover of the June 2010 issue of attitude magazine. Previously he had been reluctant to discuss his sexuality, though he had compared himself to famous bisexuals Brian Molko and David Bowie, as well as Morrissey.
He also discussed the homoerotic story behind his song "I Still Remember" and the semi-autobiographical nature of it. In June 2010 Kele was named as the Sexiest Out Gay Male Artist by music website in its annual survey.

This shows his emotion through shy I think, as my sexually is not homosexual this will be a different challenge to me, but looking at his songs through beats and genre, and the one that I've chosen it's not based in any single way of the term homosexual.
The reason why I researched this is that I still can look at various things and interviews and also find links to my music video, also it shows not everything goes to plan.

WHY RESEARCH THIS ??
Like I said this is very weak research but from it I've have gained little factors and evidence which tweak up a more successful music video and relates more to my artist that I'm researching upon and expands my knowledge further into him.