Siriusmo’s “Doppelklick” now has an official music video 6 years after its release

In September 2017, Siriusmo released his latest album to date ‘Comic‘.
Six years on, this album, which plunges souls into an enchanted labyrinth where ambient warbles are synthesized, now features one more official music video. “Doppelklick“, Comic’s third track in collaboration with Quentin Dupieux aka Mr. Oizo (the French genius of the fourth and seventh art who has just released his new movie ‘Yannick’), takes us a step further into Siriusmo’s graphic universe under the digital stroke of pen of Berlin-based graphic designer Niels Rost.

“Drawn entirely in Microsoft Paint, this animated music video pokes fun at humankind’s often absurd relationship with technology and our ever increasing addiction to screens and digital stimulation. What started as a final uni project turned into a long term side project. After multiple years of work the final product is finally here!” says Rost.

Rediscover “Doppelklick” by Siriusmo and Mr. Oizo in 2023 via this cartoon in nomophobic-goretopia overtones by Niels Rost and read his interview to better understand what’s behind the video and collaboration with Siriusmo.

Hi Niels, can you introduce yourself?
Niels Rost: “I’m an illustrator, animator and graphic designer from Berlin. I grew up in England after moving there as a kid, but came back to Berlin to study visual communication over a decade ago. My personality and art style were shaped a lot by this city and its graffiti-filled streets, which I explored for many years skateboarding with my friends – another big influence of mine.”

How long have you been doing video animation?
Niels Rost: “I had made a couple of short trial animations before, but this was actually my first major animation project. I have come to love this medium and will definitely continue making animations in the future!”

How did you meet Siriusmo? Did you choose the song you wanted to work on?
Niels Rost: “I met Siriusmo through my sister, who is also a musician and has been friends with him for many years. Moritz eventually saw one of my early animations and said he would love to use it as a music video. Given this opportunity, I told him I would rather make a new video especially for one of his songs. He agreed and let me freely choose a song from his then current album “Comic”, which I was very excited about.”

What is your relationship with Siriusmo’s music and his album Comic? Why did you set your sights on the track “Doppelklick”?
Niels Rost: “I have been a fan of Siriusmo’s Music for a long time. I’ve always loved his playful, experimental and weird take on music and have listened to all his releases a lot over the years. Comic was a great album and I had a tough time picking out the one track I wanted to base my video on. After some back and forth I landed on “Doppelklick”.

Your approach is to show a dystopia with contemporary ingredients leading to various social catastrophes, is that what the song inspired you to do?
Niels Rost: “The theme of the video was originally inspired by the title of the track, which translates to “double click” and lead me in the direction of technology use. I personally seem to spend my life looking at screens, and find it both fascinating and unsettling how much we humans are drawn to them, and the endless stimulation they provide. The things we spend our time doing in these digital worlds are often silly, even ridiculous, and yet we can never seem to get enough. I wanted to highlight and exaggerate this bizarre relationship in a way that was both humorous and unnerving. The track, with its gloomy intro and hectic beat suited this perfectly and its unique sounds often provided inspiration for individual scenes.”

Did you work together with Siriusmo during the making of the video?
Niels Rost: “Moritz gave me complete freedom and trust in making the video and I made the whole thing by myself. A blessing and a curse!”

Any anecdotes to share during the process?
Niels Rost: “While experimenting with different styles early on, I started playing around in Microsoft Paint and really liked the pixelated, rough quality of the drawings. I decided to draw the entire video in this dated piece of software, which resulted in a unique look, but didn’t exactly speed up the process. Eventually the deadline I had set myself was long gone and I was having to work alongside the project, making progress very slow. Moritz was super chill about the whole thing, which was kind of him – but let’s just say I work best under pressure… Luckily, I eventually won a grant for the completion of the video, which gave me enough free time and motivation to finally get it done.”

New projects in the pipeline?
Niels Rost: “I’m planning to make an indepth behind the scenes video for “Doppelklick” soon. Until then, with this mammoth project out of the way, I’m really enjoying working on some smaller personal projects. Speaking of which, a short comic I made is coming to the “Berliner Fenster” (screens in Berlin underground trains) soon!”

Follow Niels Rost on Instagram: @nielsprost