Offering listeners a memorable experience through ethereal vocals and dreamy undertones, the Anatolian-inspired musical group Minor Empire releases a powerful music video in honor of international women's day with "Uyuttum Atları."
With singer-songwriter and vocalist Ozgu Ozman leading the way, Minor Empire has seen incredible attention and critical acclaim over its years of creating. Through their unique Turkish rhythms and dreamy melodies, Minor Empire offers a unique sound that defies categorization and stereotypes.
Honoring international women's day with their latest music video, "Uyuttum Atları," viewers are able to watch lead vocalist Ozgu Ozman sink herself into introspection while laying upon nature's surfaces. All while a different young woman trudges through the forest searching for her stolen sisters in the reflection of mother nature.
As the video for "Uyuttum Atları" begins, scenes of a time-lapsed sky open the video while transitioning to a meditative Ozgu Ozman, laying upon a flat rock and floating herself into thought. Moving into shots of a flower-filled field and another young woman lying upon the grass, she begins daydreaming of blessing her sisters with a warm embrace.
Once Ozgu Ozman begins singing her tender lyricism, it almost sparks something within the mind of the field-laying woman as she jumps to her feet and begins venturing deep into the forest. In search of her sisters, she later finds shadows of women on trees, fluidly moving to the sweet sounds of Minor Empire. We genuinely feel refreshed after experiencing such a thorough and calming music video like Minor Empires.
Allow Minor Empire to send you into a state of trance with their serene music video for "Uyuttum Atları," available now on YouTube.
We highly appreciate the ode to international women's day you've created through your music video, "Uyuttum Atları." What inspired the creation of this video?
Women murders are on the rise in my home country over the past few years. But again, looking around, it is a global issue, an epidemic around the world. It’s just that some societies are dealing with it openly, some are trying to underplay it. In Canada, there was this campaign called “No more stolen sisters”, which I thought was very impactful. We simply wanted to do our part and contribute to raising awareness on the issue. What message did you want to convey through your lyricism within "Uyuttum Atları," and how did you emphasize the song's meaning within the music video?
In the lyrics, women who lost their lives are talking and telling their stories. How they were full of dreams, how they could have made the world a better place, how society failed them. Uyuttum Atlari translates “I lulled the horses to sleep”. The easier translation would have been “I put the horses to sleep”, but that alternatively suggested killing the horse, so we went with the more indirect translation. Horses for me symbolize noble feelings, noble ideas, and hopes, but also a heightened sensitivity. They are very perceptive of the injustice around them. When you numb or disable that sensitivity, what happens? How about in society, when no one talks about injustice, or no one is bothered by it, what happens? What I learned and experienced in my home country is that when democracy gets a hit, women get 10 times of it. Education, justice, social security...Name one. And fiddle with it, and see what happens first. You see the effect on women first, very dramatically. That erosion has been so fast in my home country that now we’re unable to stop and reverse it. That is what the title is talking about. While talking about our stolen sisters, we also wanted to explore our connection with one another through our mother nature. Every time a woman is hurt, treated unfairly, abused, I feel I lose a part of me. And I believe that is our nature. We are connected, we are geared to feel each other’s pain. But that also means we can also help each other get stronger and empower each other. That collective strength needs to be explored, nurtured and utilized. Was your group accompanied by any videographers, directors, or producers when creating your music video for "Uyuttum Atları?"
The video was directed by Ozan Boz himself, who happens to be the leader of the band, and who wrote the music. We also had a DOP with Mike Rilstone. Seeing as your group created a music video for international women's day, do you usually release music that touches on broader and more meaningful concepts?
Our most recent album Uprooted is basically a concept album. It was created around the concept of being uprooted, from home, from life, from dreams. So I’d say yes, we like creating music within broad, meaningful concepts, and attempting to tackle our issues through that.
What would you like new listeners and fans to know about the music that you create?
I’d say, we try to make music with its own unique language. So even if you don’t understand the lyrics I trust that the music will lead you into the universe we designed and intended. Have an open mind, let go and meet us there.