Big Brain – An EBM Sketch

A large international pharmaceutical company has developed the perfect sleep aid. Or so they think. All the rat studies look fine and even the monkey studies show promise. Thus, it is time to move this sleep drug into human trials. Some poor sap is pulled in off the street with a promise of free logistics warehouse gift cards to spend during the holidays. They just sign a waiver and take some pills for a month while checking in on their mobile device for the promised gift cards.

As the test subject takes the pills, they fall asleep within a minute. But while asleep their mind races with all sorts of mechanical hallucinations and strange colorful distorted thoughts. When their body finally wakes up again, they are completely exhausted. The next night they take the pills again and suddenly realize they are connecting psychically with all the other trial participants. They form a hive mind in their dreams at night and again wake up exhausted the next day.

To bean counting chemists the trial looks good on paper, but the long-term side effects are sleeping during the day and connecting to a new reality in dreams at night (a dangerous combination). Due to an effective advertising campaign with lots of smiling, dogs catching frisbees, golf course hits and cruises the whole populace gets hooked on the pill. Now during the day everyone sleeps and at night they burn up their otherwise useful energy in a holographic psychic realm. Within 10 years society collapses and only the Amazonians living in the jungle are left as normal humans.

Drawing was created with microns and alcohol markers with a few highlights from acrylic pens. Song was created in MPC 2 with synths such as Iona, Jura and Arturia’s pigments. Drums are from EZ drummer’s Synthwave library. The audio and video were mixed in after effects and mastered in Adobe Audition. That’s all for now, thanks for looking 😊